Xebra Brands Ltd., an international cannabis cultivation and product company, has announced they are starting to cultivate cannabis in the Netherlands. Xebra is one of five companies selected by the Dutch government to cultivate medicinal cannabis, in a trial.
Their goal is to be awarded one of two licenses and a six-year maximum contract to co-supply all pharma-grade cannabis for sale in the Netherlands. To date, a single supplier, Bedrocan, has supplied medical cannabis to the entire country.
Medical cannabis has been legal in the Netherlands since 2003. The program is highly regulated and patients may only access their prescribed products through pharmacies via a single supplier: Bedrocan. While recreational cannabis in the Netherlands is not legal, cannabis flower is considered a “soft drug” and is decriminalized. As such, the country tolerates the sale and possession of small amounts of cannabis when in coffee shops known as social consumption lounges.
Xebra’s Director of Operations is Harry von Duijne, a horticulturist who had a leading role at Bedrocan between 2014-2017.