Cannabis from the pharmacy costs five to 15 euros per gram, depending on the variety. Cantourage does not grow itself, but rather processes hemp plants from partners in Uganda, New Zealand or Uruguay.
"The first consumers are already switching from the black market to the medical system," says Cantourage boss Philip Schetter. 'For a low-quality product, that's crazy,' he says of the price of medical cannabis on the black market. 'The cannabis industry is booming, medical cannabis is becoming increasingly popular. We were visiting a laboratory. That's how much the grass from the pharmacy costs. The quality and the active ingredient are constant. You get the same product. There are currently completely different and often stretched varieties available on the black market. For a variety that you get for 15 euros a gram, you would probably pay 30 to 40 euros in a coffee shop in Amsterdam, says the boss of Cantourage. 'It's almost ridiculous what's going on,' he says.