Will Uganda really supply Germany and Canada with medical cannabis?

The bigger the better, but still. A press release has been circulating in Africa over the past few days, and has been picked up by numerous African media: Uganda has reportedly signed a 150 million euro contract to supply 22,000 German pharmacies and the Canadian market with cannabis, as well as for the preparation of Sativex and Marinol. Why this makes us wonder.

Exciting but ...

Uganda has reportedly signed a 10-year contract with pharmacies in Canada and Germany to export cannabis-based products for medical use in Canada and Germany, worth 150 million euros.

Benjamin Cadet, one of the directors of Industrial Hemp (U) Ltd, the only company with the right to produce cannabis and which works jointly with an Israeli company, Together Pharma Ltd, has reportedly confirmed to the Daily Monitor orders for medical cannabis from at least 20,000 pharmacies in Canada and Germany.

«We have signed annual supply contracts worth $100 million and 58 million euros with pharmacies in Canada. Current contracts are for 10 years, but we will continue to grow to meet future demand,» said Cadet.

Cannabis is illegal in Uganda, but the government can issue permits to grow cannabis for export. The country apparently already sent 10000$ of medical cannabis in flower form to South Africa at the end of 2017.

Exports would include «cannabinol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) with a mixture of 2.7 mg THC and 2.5 mg CBD for Sativex drugs approved in the United States, Europe and Canada, as well as oil for making dronabinol and Marinol capsules and Syndros and CBD-enriched creams for the treatment of various skin disorders.

Several questions then arise:

• Canada is a cannabis exporter, and Canadian producers are setting up shop all over the world, but Canada does not import cannabis.
• All products used for medical purposes in Europe must be GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) certified. Industrial Hemp website doesn't mention it anywhere
• Although it is possible to switch from open-air industrial hemp to controlled-environment plants, this requires substantial investment.
• Sativex is not marketed in the United States, as the press release states.
• Marinol and Syndros capsules are synthetic THC. Why would they need natural THC?
• Haaretz asked itself at the end of 2018 On Together Pharma's presence in Uganda. The company had announced an incredible number of financial transactions in early 2018, with nothing coming of them. The stock had taken 1800%, then the company had lost 60% of its stock market value, retaining however the place of second most valued company. Together reportedly bought «an unnamed German company» to supply it with 12.5 tons of medical cannabis.

One thing is certain: the African continent could massively benefit the various legalizations of cannabis. Is Uganda as advanced as Industrial Hemp would have us believe? We await confirmation.