Luxembourg pays 3 million euros for 30 kilos of medical cannabis

Being the richest country in the world has its advantages. Luxembourg has just paid 3 million euros for 30 kilograms of medical cannabis. If you take out your calculator and apply a good old-fashioned cross product, you come up with the tidy sum of 100 euros per gram.

«The winning bid was submitted by Canopy Growth Germany in collaboration with Tilray Germany. The products from both suppliers come from Portugal and Canada, says Luxembourg's Minister of Health, in a statement written reply to a member of parliament. Paulette Lenert also specifies that the Grand Duchy will receive 28.5 kilograms of cannabis flowers at ratio THC 18% / CBD <1%, and 2.25 kilograms of THC/CBD balanced herb.

This delivery is very welcome in Luxembourg. The country is out of stock medical cannabis since March. Visit some 700 patients treated with flowers will soon be able to resume their treatment. This applies in particular to those suffering from severe illness with chronic pain, cancer or multiple sclerosis.

«Throwing money down the drain»

But this supply comes at a high price. Very high. 100 euros per gram is unprecedented. «It's got to be a mistake, it can't be!, says Bertrand Rambaud, representative of the French-speaking Union for Cannabinoids in Medicine. Generally speaking, wholesale prices range from 2 to 3 euros per gram. Resale prices are around 7 euros. When I went to the Netherlands, Bedrocan was sold at around 7.20 euros a gram.»

Luxembourgers, too, seem bewildered by this purchase price. In the newspaper commentary area L'Essentiel, many Internet users shared their surprise: «100 euros a gram?! Luxembourg is notorious for throwing money down the drain», «There must be a mistake, or an intermediary who's getting a good commission in the process.

The government won't have any trouble paying that much. Luxembourg is the richest country in the world, in terms of wealth per capita, according to the latest World Bank figures. But now it remains to be seen how much Luxembourg medical cannabis will sell for. «If they buy it for 100 euros a gram, they're not going to resell it for 10 euros».», predicts Bertrand Rambaud.