On 25 September, PTMC hosted its seventh edition in central Lisbon, amid a growing sense that Portugal’s medical cannabis sector has reached an inflection point.
Delegates were keen to exchange views on whether, and how, Portugal can maintain and strengthen its position as Europe’s leading producer and exporter, against the backdrop of domestic developments and wider shifts in the European cannabis industry.
Opening Session – Infarmed (Portugal’s Cannabis Regulator)
Dr Vasco Bettencourt – Director, Infarmed Licensing Unit
- The message was a constructive one, emphasising the resilience of the sector and the need for transparency.
- In the wake of the ‘Erva Daninha’ operation by Portuguese authorities, which uncovered a criminal organisation active within the country’s cannabis industry, Dr Bettencourt assured delegates that this was an isolated case, not representative of the sector.
- Moving forward, the focus for Infarmed is set to be on addressing delays in licensing, while implementing new qualification systems, new monitoring systems for regulatory oversight, and implementing the UN’s software for registering and tracking import and export shipments.
Pharmaceutical Science and Innovation in Cannabis Products and Medicines
(Moderator) Sarah Sinclair – Cannabis Health, Fátima Godinho Carvalho – LEF, Danny Andrea – Curaleaf, Amit Edri – Portocanna, Helena Correia – Cannabis Consultant
Key Takeaways:
- The most significant area of innovation in medical cannabis is in the processes of its production. Reliability, stability, and reproducibility of the manufacturing process are key.
- The panel also touched on the constraints which the regulatory environment imposes – all innovation has to remain compliant with a patchwork of regulatory systems in Europe, as well as the difficulty of working within EUGMP with plant material like cannabis flower.
- Also mentioned was that traditional RCTs don’t fully suit cannabis, due to product variation, and psychoactive effects rendering placebo controls difficult. Real-world trials are increasingly being used even in standard medicine, and they will be key for developing evidence for medical cannabis.
Building a Successful Cannabis Company: How to Attract Investment and Achieve ROI?
(Moderator) Laura Ramos – CannaReporter, Franziska Katterbach – Oppenhoff, Michael Sassano – Somaí Pharmaceuticals, Joana Silveira Botelho – Cuatrecasas, António Vieira – AceCann
Key Takeaways:
- Founders should start with an authentic idea and identify a clear, uninhabited niche.
- It shouldn’t just be a case of chasing the hype; otherwise the business is not sustainable.
- The old race to be first and biggest is over, companies now need clear value propositions and realistic business plans.
- Success requires patience with lengthy timelines and upfront investment in strong legal/compliance structures, contracts, audits, and due diligence. This will save time and money in the long run.
- A common pitfall is underestimating (or understating to investors) how long it takes to go from licensing to sales. Markets are unstable, and roadmaps from past successes don’t always apply.
- The industry should come together to drive change, but it’s not always necessary to change the law. The regulator is often able to make changes within the existing legal framework without having to go through parliament.
Cultivating, Processing, Distributing in Europe
(Moderator) Margarita Cardoso de Meneses – CannaReporter, Xavier Gaya – Cultivation Consultant, Rui Soares – Paralab, Inês Campos Lima – BioLeaf Health, Louis Golaz – RED Horticulture
Key Takeaways:
- Too often the focus is just on yield, but assessing performance should be more sophisticated, e.g. measuring yield per kilowatt hour.
- Contrary to what is often said by companies setting up cultivation in Portugal, it is not the ideal climate for cultivation. The high heat levels make greenhouse growing difficult, as a significant energy expenditure is required to keep temperatures down in summer. High humidity also poses various problems.
- HVAC and drying rooms are major pain points. Poor systems lead to contamination risks, costly cleaning, and possibly necessitate irradiation, leading to consumer rejection in Germany.
- Scaling production requires finding the right mix of automation and manual work across cultivation and post-harvest; some parts of the process truly require a manual touch, others can be automated.
- Stability of genetics underpins consistent SOPs and end products. Emerging solutions include F1 seeds and triploid plants, moving away from legacy practices. Starts with genetics, then careful environmental optimisation.
Cannabis supply chain around the world: Trends of International Markets
(Moderator) Arnau Valdovinos – Cannamonitor, Alfredo Pascual – Analyst, Natalia Lopez – Former Chief Cultivator, Thai Stick, Rob Smallman – Global Cannabis Exchange, Sita Schubert – European Medicinal Cannabis Association (EUMCA)
Key Takeaways:
- Thai cannabis is already reaching Australia and could enter Germany as early as the end of the year, though regulatory delays remain likely.
- Deals are often slowed or blocked by inconsistent labelling, packaging, and cannabinoid content.
- Companies have unrealistic expectations for market entry timelines – first exports from Canada to Europe typically take 3–5 months.
- Capital has chased vanity metrics (capacity, licences, countries) rather than competitive edge, leaving many operators without sustainable business models.
- There are misconceptions around product quality – THC potency and recency of harvest are often used as proxies for quality. While freshness is important, flower dated 3 months from harvest can still be of high quality.
- Upcoming German regulatory reforms (debated Oct 8) could bring tighter restrictions and further price compression.
- National registration processes and European monographs for flower and extracts are emerging, but harmonisation remains slow. Current contaminant limits are borrowed from other pharmacopoeia standards rather than being based on cannabis-specific data.
100 Years of World’s Prohibition, 25 of Decriminalization in Portugal: Future Paths
(Moderator) Laura Ramos – CannaReporter, Carl L. Hart – Columbia University, NYC, Alfredo Pascual – Analyst, Bárbara do Amaral Correia – PSD, Jorge Miguel Teixeira – Iniciativa Liberal, Cláudia Estêvão – Chega
Key Takeaways:
- Like Uruguay in 2013, Portugal has pioneered regulatory change in cannabis regulation, but not continued to develop.
- Portugal is now ahead of other countries in building an industry, yet it risks stagnating through a lack of further constructive engagement from the government.
- Recreational cannabis regulation is on the agenda of discussion and debate within the ruling coalition in Portugal; however, the direction of policymaking and legislation is still developing
- The debate around cannabis and the direction of policymaking is too often detached from scientific research. There are also significant issues with scientific data and studies being conducted or interpreted with specific political outcomes in mind.
