The Limburg company Rendocan would like to legally produce five tonnes of therapeutic cannabis per year in Kinrooi, not far from the Dutch border. De Tijd et L'Echo are reporting on Friday that to achieve the end, the current legal framework needs to be adapted. A current study by the department for the Minister of Health, Maggie De Block (Open Vld) is looking into the feasibility of the proposals.
Rendocan plans to establish the first plantation within the sphere of therapeutic cannabis in continental Europe in Kinrooi, also including a research centre. Primarily, the Limburg company is targeting the German market.
Steven Peters, speaking on behalf of Rendocan, explains, “We consider ourselves to be a biotechnology company and, to produce our added value, we are undergoing the development of new seeds.”
However, growing therapeutic cannabis for the moment remains an illegal activity in Belgium, and the legal framework must therefore be adapted. The matter is in the process of being considered by the department for the Minister Maggie De Block (Open Vld). The department has issued a statement as follows, “There are several ‘Gordian knots’ still to be untied, and we would prefer not to say more for the moment.”
Whilst awaiting the appropriate modification of the law, the plans for the construction of the research centre and plantation have been passed, and the applications for necessary licences already submitted. Steven Peters confirms, “The day that we get the green light to go ahead, we will turn the first sod of soil in the ground.”
The Brussels Times
