The cultivation of cannabis on behalf of the state

Cannabis growing on behalf of the state

VIENNA. Order of Parliament: Minister of Health may badess "medicinal hemp situation"

AGES produces cannabis Photo: APA

The situation in Austria is diffuse. Since December 2016, a Schärding company has been offering hemp cuttings. There is a big market for plants whose flowers contain the intoxicating THC substance. In Austria, cultivation and possession of cannabis are legal – as long as the plants are not allowed to bloom.

Special lighting in the store prevents plants from starting to bloom and therefore develop the THC active ingredient. The fact that buyers of home plants all use the same lighting, but can be questioned. Overall, it is a legal gray area, although the cultivation of cannabis is not explicitly prohibited, the possession of cannabis flowers is clearly illegal.

The black and blue government plans to impose such business models with a ban on the sale of hemp seeds. Hemp plants "to remove the legal basis." At the same time, the Minister of Health, Beate Hartinger-Klein, received a mandate from the Parliament's health committee to badess the state of medical hemp before the end of the year. Year

250 kilograms of legal cannabis

Already eight years Incidentally, the National Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) has a special permit that allows it to grow cannabis – to medical use – on a large scale.Over 3000 square meters, the plants are grown in greenhouses in Vienna-Donaustadt. "Our production dates back to the year 2008. We have a commercial production since 2010. Our product has a content in THC constant of just under 20%, "says Bernhard Föger, director of the AGES Institute for Sustainable Vegetable Production, 250 kilograms were harvested the year before.

In the studies, the effect of cannabis as a drug is controversial.It is mainly used in pain therapy or for appetite stimulation in cancer patients after chemotherapy. (hip)

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