Colombia: illegal growers eager to return to the legal circuit

Farmers in northern Colombia's Cauca province, the country's center of cannabis cultivation, have formed a cooperative to capitalize on the legalization of the cannabis trade in the country. Their aim is to become the country's leading supplier to the legal Colombian cannabis market.

Half of Colombia's cannabis production is concentrated in this province, including 50% in the town of Corinto alone. Police estimate that 100 hectares of the town are dedicated to cannabis cultivation. Local farmers say twice as much.

When Colombia legalized cannabis for therapeutic and research use, Corinto's farmers understood that they could play a role.

A group of farmers therefore created Caucannabis, a cooperative with the aim of becoming the leading supplier of new legal cannabis businesses in Colombia.

Growing cannabis or coca is often the only option for these farmers to earn money in these isolated areas. «It's illegal, but it's all we have,» says Betania Rodriguez, a member of the cooperative who works as a family around a small cannabis plantation.

Since June, the Colombian government has granted three licenses to three companies for the production of cannabis-based medical products that can be used to treat illnesses such as cancer, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis.

Through these licenses, the government hopes to reap some of the benefits of the medical cannabis industry. «Colombia could benefit from the emergence of this new market,» says Alejandro Gaviria, Minister of Health, who is spearheading the legalization of cannabis in Colombia.

The industry hasn't really got off the ground yet. The licenses granted so far only allow the extraction of resin or oil from cannabis, not its cultivation.

The three licensed companies plan to grow their own crop, but Corinto farmers say that for the industry to have a real impact on the country, traditional cannabis growers should be the suppliers.

«We're the ones who know the most about cannabis cultivation in Colombia, so we want to be involved,» says Edward Garcia, mayor of Corinto, who encouraged growers in the town and four surrounding towns to create the cannabis cooperative.

The government must now issue a license for cannabis cultivation, and Caucannabis is in the starting blocks. Canadian and German companies have expressed interest in building a factory near Corinto to buy local production and produce resin for export.

If Caucannabis were to obtain its cultivation license, growers would probably have to change some of the varieties grown. One of these, known as «kripi», which has made ded Corinto weed a success, is appreciated by recreational users for its high THC levels, but could be a problem for the medical industry, which is looking for a low-THC, high-THC product. CBD. Other varieties also have higher yields than the kripi.

There is clearly potential here to bring illegal growers into the legal industry. Over 500 farmers in the region have expressed interest in joining the project. The only catch is that, by law, anyone wishing to work in the cannabis industry must not have a criminal record.

«This eliminates a lot of current growers,» says Luc Lapointe, director of Colombian start-up Kannabicol, which is looking to grow cannabis in Colombia to supply the Canadian market.

In fact, Caucannabis has called on the government to reconsider these restrictions and give growers a chance to enter the legal market. The decision must be taken quickly, or risk seeing these growers return to the shadows of their cannabis bushes.