Euforin efter Trumps order har lagt sig – cannabisaktier faller tillbaka
by Redaktionen
Efter den initiala euforin kring Donald Trumps exekutiva order om att påskynda omklassificeringen av cannabis har optimismen snabbt avtagit. Nu backar cannabisaktierna, samtidigt som osäkerheten kring processen växer.
Det är nu nästan två månader sedan president Donald Trump överraskade den globala cannabisindustrin genom att underteckna en exekutiv order om att inleda den länge efterlängtade processen för omklassificering av cannabis ur det byråkratiska träsket.
Utan att administrationen har nämnt projektet sedan dess fylls tomrummet återigen av förbudsrörelser , marknadsskepticism och obevekliga distraktioner.
I takt med att den inledande euforin kring den exekutiva ordern om att påskynda omklassificeringen av cannabis i stort sett har lagt sig, har cannabisaktierna – föga förvånande – gett upp sina snabba uppgångar.
AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF (MSOS), som steg med 24 procent efter tillkännagivandet i december, ligger nu omkring 15 procent ned hittills i år, samtidigt som det bredare S&P 500-indexet har rört sig in på plus.
Även om processen långt ifrån kan anses vara avskriven, har cannabisindustrin historiskt haft en tendens att dras med i kortsiktig hype. Allt fler tongivande röster antyder nu att sektorn kan ha fallit i samma fälla ännu en gång.
Omklassificeringen kommer i praktiken främst att innebära en betydande skattelättnad, framför allt för de stora multistate-operatörerna (MSO:er), och det kommer att stärka deras resultat, vilket i sin tur kan påverka aktiekurserna positivt, säger Arthur Cordova, vd för cannabisföretaget Ziel och tidigare institutionell handlare på Wall Street. – Men utöver det kommer den inte att bidra med något nytt kapital i traditionell mening.
Eftersom justitiedepartementet inte har lämnat några uppdateringar om hur implementeringen fortskrider och den administrativa vägen fortfarande är oklar, säger Cordova att han fortsatt väntar på en trovärdig genomgång av hur processen faktiskt ska gå vidare.
– Jag har ännu inte läst någon riktigt skarp analys som förklarar hur omklassificeringen ser ut i praktiken just nu, säger han.
Denna osäkerhet förvärras av ett växande politiskt motstånd inom Trumps eget parti. Vägen mot en omklassificering till Schedule III är kantad av betydande juridiska och administrativa hinder, och även om processen skulle lyckas är det långt ifrån säkert att den leder till den omvälvande förändring som många etablerade aktörer har hoppats på.
Implementeringsproblemet
I sin exekutiva order instruerade Trump justitieminister Pam Bondi att ”vidta alla nödvändiga åtgärder för att så snabbt som möjligt slutföra regelgivningsprocessen för att omklassificera marijuana till Schedule III enligt Controlled Substances Act”.
Men två månader senare har justitiedepartementet i stort sett inte gett någon klarhet i hur, när eller om det kommer att ske.
När en talesperson för justitiedepartementet kontaktades av Marijuana Moment förra månaden uppgav departementet att det inte fanns några ”kommentarer eller uppdateringar” att dela. Nyligen berättade dock en tjänsteman för Salon att ”justitiedepartementet arbetar med att identifiera det snabbaste sättet att verkställa exekutivordern”, vilket tyder på att den fortsatta vägen ännu inte är fastställd.
– Du undertecknar en av de här exekutiva orderna, fortsatte Cordova och ifrågasatte om Trump helt enkelt skulle kunna ”ringa sin kontakt på DEA och bara säga: gör det här … strunta i resten … jag vill att det ska vara klart senast på måndag”.
– Alla som motsätter sig omklassificeringen kommer då att stämma dem, och de kommer att få en rejäl dag i domstol eftersom processen varit förhastad. Så kommer beslutet att stå sig? Har det hållits offentliga utfrågningar där motståndarsidan fått komma till tals?
De administrativa kraven är omfattande. DEA måste fortfarande gå igenom omkring 43 000 offentliga synpunkter som lämnades in under Biden-administrationens arbete med ett förslag till nytt regelverk. Myndigheten har dessutom saknat administrativa domare sedan augusti 2025 – de tjänstemän som ansvarar för att övervaka omklassificeringar av substanser. DEA-administratören Terry Cole, som bekräftades i juli, har ännu inte offentligt åtagit sig att omklassificera marijuana och kontrollerar utnämningen av de domare som skulle kunna återuppta processen.
I en färsk rapport från Congressional Research Service beskrevs hur justitiedepartementet i teorin skulle kunna avvisa presidentens direktiv helt eller försena processen genom att återuppta den vetenskapliga granskningen.
Justitieminister Bondi har hittills förblivit tyst i frågan. Även om det hade spekulerats i att frågan skulle tas upp i veckans explosiva utfrågning, spårade sessionen oundvikligen ur av Epstein-skandalen.
Rättsliga utmaningar är också praktiskt taget garanterade. Nebraskas justitieminister Mike Hilgers ledde ett oppositionsbrev till flera delstater under Biden-processen och har fortsatt rättstvister mot medicinska cannabisprogram och berusningsmedel som härrör från hampa.
Anticannabisgrupper har redan förberett rättsliga utmaningar mot den vetenskapliga grund som ligger till grund för en omklassificering av cannabis. Samtidigt kan även reformförespråkare komma att väcka talan och hävda att en omklassificering inte går tillräckligt långt, och att cannabis i stället bör avföras helt från Controlled Substances Act.
Vad kommer egentligen att förändras?
För många amerikanska cannabisoperatörer har det centrala fokusområdet kring en omklassificering varit att få bort skatteregeln 280E – den paragraf i IRS skattelagstiftning som förhindrar vanliga affärsavdrag för verksamheter som hanterar substanser klassade under Schedule I eller II.
Men enligt Cordova är påståenden om att detta automatiskt skulle öppna dörren för institutionellt kapital överdrivna.
Det verkliga hindret är enligt Cordova inte Schedule I-klassificeringen i sig, utan avsaknaden av bankreformer – en fråga som fortsatt stått still trots omfattande legalisering på delstatsnivå. Utan tillgång till traditionella bank- och kapitalmarknader ger en omklassificering endast begränsad lättnad.
Därtill fungerar många multistate-operatörer (MSO:er) redan i praktiken som om 280E-regeln vore avskaffad, vilket innebär att de omedelbara ekonomiska vinsterna av en omklassificering sannolikt blir begränsade.
Det enda område där Cordova ser mer påtagliga framsteg är inom forskningen, men även där ligger de verkliga fördelarna för patienter och företag flera år fram i tiden.
Stora läkemedelsbolag som tidigare har ”arbetat tyst bakom kulisserna” kommer då att kunna diskutera cannabis öppet som en del av sina utvecklingsportföljer. Multinationella företag som Bayer och Novartis, som tidigare varit försiktiga med att riskera sin amerikanska verksamhet, kan därmed engagera sig mer öppet.
Samtidigt rör sig kliniska prövningar, FDA-godkännanden och läkemedelsutveckling långsamt, och traditionella cannabisbolag saknar den regulatoriska infrastruktur som läkemedelsindustrin har byggt upp under årtionden.
Business of Cannabis kommer under de kommande veckorna att publicera en serie artiklar som fördjupar sig i de praktiska konsekvenserna av en omklassificering.
Rescheduling Optimism Fades, Cannabis Stocks Follow
by Ben Stevens
It is now nearly two months since President Donald Trump surprised the global cannabis industry by signing an executive order to drag the highly-anticipated cannabis rescheduling process out of the bureaucratic swamp.With no mention of the project from the administration ever since, the void is once again being filled with prohibitionist pushback, market scepticism, and relentless distractions.
As the initial euphoria of the Executive Order to expedite cannabis rescheduling now all but evaporated, cannabis stocks have predictably surrendered their rapid gains.
The AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF (MSOS), which surged 24% following the December announcement, is now down 15% year-to-date as the broader S&P 500 climbs into positive territory.
While the project is by no means written off, the cannabis industry at large historically has poor form on succumbing to hype, and an increasing number of leading voices are now suggesting it could have fallen into this trap once again.
“Rescheduling is just going to be a big tax break largely the MSOs, and it’s going to help their bottom line, which might help their stock price,” Arthur de Cordova, CEO of cannabis company Ziel and former Wall Street institutional trader. “But outside of that, it will do nothing to inject any additional capital in the traditional sense.”
With the Justice Department offering no updates on implementation progress and the administrative pathway remaining unclear, de Cordova says he’s still waiting for credible analysis of how the process moves forward: “I have yet to read an incisive article that explains how rescheduling gets done now.”
That uncertainty compounds mounting political resistance from within Trump’s own party. The path to Schedule III faces significant legal and administrative hurdles, and even if successful, may not deliver the transformational change legacy operators anticipated.
The implementation problem
Trump’s executive order directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to ‘take all necessary steps to complete the rulemaking process related to rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act in the most expeditious manner.’
But two months later, the Justice Department has provided virtually no clarity on how, when, or whether that will occur.
When pressed by Marijuana Moment last month, a DOJ spokesperson said the department had no ‘comment or updates’ to share. More recently, an agency official told Salon that the ‘DOJ is working to identify the most expeditious means of executing the EO’, suggesting that the path forward has not yet been established.
“You sign one of these executive orders,” de Cordova continued, asking if Trump can simply ‘call his DEA person and just do it…don’t give me any guff about it…I want it done by Monday?’
“All the people who are against rescheduling will then take them to court, and they’ll have a field day because it was rushed. So will it stand? Did they have public hearings for the other side?”
The administrative requirements are substantial. The Drug Enforcement Administration must still review 43,000 public comments submitted during the Biden administration’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking process. The agency has had no administrative law judges on staff since August 2025, the very officials responsible for overseeing drug reclassifications. DEA Administrator Terry Cole, who was confirmed in July, has yet to commit publicly to rescheduling and controls the appointment of new judges who could restart the process.
A recent Congressional Research Service report outlined how the DOJ could, in theory, reject the president’s directive entirely or delay the process by restarting the scientific review.
Attorney General Bondi has so far remained silent on the issue. While it had been speculated the issue would be brought up in this week’s explosive hearing, the session was inevitably derailed by the Epstein Files scandal.
Legal challenges are also virtually guaranteed. Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers led a multistate opposition letter during the Biden process and has continued litigation against medical cannabis programs and hemp-derived intoxicants.
Anti-cannabis groups have already prepared challenges to the rescheduling science. Even pro-reform advocates may sue, arguing that rescheduling doesn’t go far enough and that cannabis should be de-scheduled and entirely removed from the Controlled Substances Act.
What will really change?
The central focus for US-based cannabis operators regarding rescheduling has been the removal of the 280e tax rule, the IRS code section that bars ordinary business deductions for Schedule I/II drug operations.
But suggestions it could open the door to institutional capital, de Cordova suggests, are overcooked.
The real barrier isn’t Schedule I classification, it’s banking reform, which remains stalled despite widespread state legalisation. Without access to traditional banking and capital markets, rescheduling offers limited relief.
Furthermore, most of the MSOs are already operating as if 280e has already been abolished, meaning that immediate gains will likely be modest.
The one area where de Cordova sees genuine progress is research access, but the real-world benefits for patients and businesses will likely not be felt for years.
Big Pharma companies that have been ‘quietly working behind the scenes’ will finally be able to discuss cannabis in their pipeline publicly. Multinationals like Bayer and Novartis, previously cautious about jeopardising US operations, can now engage openly.
Clinical trials, FDA approvals, and pharmaceutical development timelines don’t move quickly, and legacy cannabis operators lack the regulatory infrastructure that Big Pharma has spent decades building.
How U.S. Cannabis Companies Can Expand Into Europe
by Josh Kasoff
With the industry now expanding beyond state lines and into the territory of independent nations, American operators are naturally eager to understand how they can participate. However, as with any frontier expansion, these international opportunities will come with their fair share of regulatory roadblocks and typical growing pains.
Summary
While U.S. rescheduling dominates the headlines, the real commercial opportunity lies in Europe’s high-standard medical markets. This guide explores how American operators can overcome the “EU GMP barrier” by leveraging two strategic models:
- The Partnership Model: Utilizing established hubs like Portugal for rapid market entry.
- The Vertical Model: Building compliant facilities in low-cost, high-yield regions like Colombia and Thailand.
Europe’s Cannabis Market Comes With Heavier Regulation
Many of these markets still lack sufficient domestic cultivation and manufacturing capacity, driving a high demand for imported products. While the U.S. regulatory framework currently restricts the export of finished goods, a significant opportunity exists for American equipment and service companies. These firms, backed by extensive experience in cultivation and processing, are uniquely positioned to enter this rapidly expanding landscape.
However, any American operator eyeing a European expansion must navigate a substantial layer of additional regulation. Specifically, for medical cannabis to be sold in the EU, the flower must be cultivated under Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP) and processed in an EU Good Manufacturing Practice (EU GMP) certified facility. This certification is already mandatory for any European pharmaceutical company, as it sets the “minimum standards to operate legally” within the medicinal framework.
While it may take time for the rest of the EU to mirror the “cannabis-friendly” stance of Germany or the Czech Republic, the mere existence of these medical markets is a significant shift. Interestingly, the movement spans the entire geographic and economic scale of the union: Germany, the EU’s largest nation, and Malta, its smallest, have both legalized cannabis. They are joined by Luxembourg, which moved toward legalization slightly before Germany. Meanwhile, 13 other countries—stretching from Norway to Romania—have established medical programs, though they vary significantly in their strictness and permitted product types.
Strategic Pathways for Entering Europe’s Cannabis Market
Swipe to scroll →
| Expansion Model | Upfront Cost | Speed to Market | Margin Control | Operational Complexity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EU GMP Partnering | Low–Medium | Fast | Low | Medium |
| In-Country EU GMP Build | High | Slow | High | High |
Given Ziel’s international experience and the existing regulation surrounding the production of pharmaceutical/medical products in all EU-affiliated countries, de Cordova recommends a few different strategies for expansion into the European countries while still abiding by the strict regulations that come with EU GMP and other required licenses.
Even with the several variances in how each individual EU country will be treating cannabis and the rigorousness of the required certifications, there are still a few different options for cannabis businesses interested in European expansions that each provide their own equal amount of benefits and drawbacks as well.
Partnering With EU GMP Facilities to Accelerate Market Entry
Cordova advised that the fastest path would be that instead of building an exorbitantly expensive EU GMP-certified facility in one of the EU-affiliated nations. GACP growers can save a considerable amount of capital and partner with European facilities that already have gone through all the extensive and costly processes required to obtain their EU GMP validation. Interestingly, the countries mentioned go beyond only The Netherlands and into several other countries not stereotypically known for cannabis culture that have passed nationwide reforms of their own.
Building EU GMP Processing in Colombia or Thailand
There’s two countries in particular that de Cordova frequently mentions as perfect natural climates for cannabis production, yet both of them are far outside of Europe and many of the EU’s policies, yet still operate under the stringent guidelines that come with GACP certification.
With year-round harvest cycles, large-scale greenhouse facilities that rival many award-winning American cultivators and soils that are naturally rich in everything vital for quality cannabis consumption, Colombia and Thailand have become ideal spots for large-scale cannabis cultivation. De Cordova brought up the financial statistic that adding even just two extra harvest cycles can result in additional revenue of over 1 million Euros.
Over the past decade, supportive regulations and foreign investment have helped the country emerge as a key source of medical cannabis for global markets. A key driver has been the widespread adoption of GACP, which is effectively table stakes for Europe; for companies targeting European buyers, GACP compliance is not optional; it is a requirement.
Key Takeaways for U.S. Cannabis Operators Entering Europe
De Cordova advises that the two most crucial regulatory frameworks are GACP for cultivation and EU-GMP for post-harvest manufacturing, two very important certifications that mostly aren’t required for American cannabis companies. Also, on top of the arduous process of receiving those certifications, any aspiring American cannabis companies will simultaneously need to be cognizant of whatever the national laws and regulations are for wherever they’re operating and the vast ways in which the operation and production rules and costs can change between the nations. And even though the American companies would technically be the newcomers into the European industries, de Cordova stressed the miles, and not kilometers, of experience that American cannabis companies can provide for their European contemporaries.
Ziel Appoints Corby Whitaker to Board of Directors
Industry Veteran Brings Decades of Experience Scaling Advanced-Materials Solutions in Compliance-Driven Markets
Ziel, the industry leader in next-generation customized, microbial control solutions for the agriculture and cannabis industries, today announced the appointment of Corby Whitaker to its Board of Directors.
Whitaker is Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Aspen Aerogels (NYSE: ASPN), where he leads global commercialization, engineering, program management, and sales operations for safety-critical, advanced-materials solutions serving EV automobiles, personnel safety, energy industrial, and building applications. His responsibilities span enterprise go-to-market strategy, product development and introduction, specification and design-in selling, channel development, contract manufacturing, product marketing, and customer success across long-cycle industrial buying processes.
“Corby brings a wealth of international experience to the Ziel team as we continue to expand our presence internationally with a focus on strategy, sales and marketing,” said Arthur de Cordova, CEO of Ziel. “Having worked with Corby earlier in our careers, I know firsthand the value he can add and how impactful his experience can be in growing our business. I’m so pleased to have him on the board of Ziel and in working with him more closely again.”
“It’s a tremendous honor to join the Ziel board, and I truly believe that my experience and history in helping companies maximize their marketing potential will be a significant value to the team here,” said Corby Whitaker, Board member for Ziel. “What Arthur and the team have developed in terms of a clear path to success and growth, and a huge head-start on international expansion is what really interested me in this role.”
Prior to Aspen Aerogels, Whitaker held senior commercial, engineering, and leadership roles at Solyndra, United Solar Ovonic, Johns Manville, and Ingersoll-Dresser, where he built and managed large account organizations, long-cycle channel programs, and OEM partnerships across industrial and energy markets.
Whitaker's experience aligns directly with Ziel's strategic priorities: scaling in fragmented, compliance-driven markets; elevating evidence-based product differentiation; guiding adjacent-market expansions; and building an ecosystem of OEM and channel partnerships that accelerate adoption and durable growth. On the Ziel board, he will focus on helping the company translate its proven food safety solutions into mainstream adoption.
Is Portugal About to Lose its Position as the ‘Gateway’ to Europe’s Largest Cannabis Markets?
by Ben Stevens
Over the last five years, Portugal has built a reputation as the medical cannabis ‘doorway to Europe’, the go-to hub for countries from North and South America, Asia and Oceania to ship their cannabis to and have it distributed to Europe’s most active markets.Although it is now the largest exporter of medical cannabis in Europe, a fraction of the cannabis grown, processed or imported into Portugal goes towards its highly restrictive domestic market, which, according to Prohibition Partners, is set to be worth just €280,000 this year.
The latest figures show that between January and August 2025, Portugal exported more medical cannabis than the entirety of 2024, driven almost entirely by Germany’s demand and Canada’s supply.
Despite these runaway growth figures, behind the scenes, Portugal’s dominance as the de facto gateway into Europe is beginning to deteriorate.
According to Arthur de Cordova, the CEO and Co-Founder of Ziel, this is due to two key factors: ‘market pricing and self-inflicted wounds’.
The Portugal import-process-export dynamic
Since implementing its medical cannabis framework in 2018, Portugal has built one of the most commercially accessible regulatory environments in Europe.
Under Ministerial Order 83/2021, companies are permitted to cultivate, manufacture, import, and export cannabis products for medical use, provided they demonstrate compliance with both Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP) and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards.
Aside from its relatively low costs, geographical location and temperate climate, these regulations have allowed it to serve as a GMP compliance and re-export hub for cannabis produced elsewhere.
Given the time and capex required to build out EU-GMP processing facilities, many businesses outside Europe operate under GACP rather than GMP standards, meaning their products cannot enter tightly regulated European markets directly.
From Prohibition Partners
Shifting dynamics
This dynamic, which has proven lucrative for the half-dozen EU-GMP processing facilities operating in Portugal while the European market flourished, is now being challenged. One key reason is pricing.
Cordova continued: “German wholesalers will pay roughly €3 per gram. They don’t care whether it comes via Portugal or directly from a GMP facility in Canada, as long as it meets compliance.”
“Now imagine a Colombian GACP farmer. They don’t have many options, so they’re forced to go through these Portuguese ‘washers’.
“GMP washing generally costs €0.60 per gram, and decontamination about €0.40 per gram, so the supplier is paying roughly €1 per gram in processing costs. Colombian growers, whose production costs are maybe €0.50–€0.80 per gram, are effectively losing 20–30% of their gross margin just by going through Portugal.”
While the upfront expense and 12-18 month licensing time have previously put these farmers off building their own EU-GMP processing facilities, according to Cordova, many are now saying ‘screw that, I’ll build my own facility licensed in Colombia and go vertically integrated…’
Self-inflicted wounds
The second major factor was the Portuguese authorities’ Operation Erva Daninha (Weed), a major enforcement action which involved more than 70 search warrants across Portugal and Europe, leading to several arrests and the seizure of over 7 tonnes of cannabis and €400,000 in cash
In May 2025, local police forces launched the operation, targeting criminal organisations allegedly using licensed pharmaceutical and export companies to falsify documentation and move product into the black market, exposing regulatory gaps in Portugal’s rapidly expanding medical cannabis sector.
While regulators and compliant operators welcomed the action as necessary to protect the industry’s credibility, the aftermath has strained the legitimate supply chain. Export permit approvals, previously processed within a month, are now taking up to 12 weeks, slowing trade and frustrating international partners.
Arthur de Cordova, CEO, Ziel
Industry executives, including SOMAÍ Pharmaceuticals CEO Michael Sassano, warned that these delays could undermine Portugal’s status as Europe’s primary processing and export hub unless Infarmed streamlines oversight and restores market confidence.
At the annual PTMC conference in Lisbon, Dr Vasco Bettencourt, Infarmed’s Director of Licensing, sought to reassure delegates that the incident was an isolated one and not reflective of Portugal’s wider cannabis industry.
While Cordova said he gives Dr Battencourt ‘a lot of credit for showing up an owning it’, the rest of the market now ‘paying the price too’.
Knock-on impact
The impact of pressure on the gateway to Europe, is now having a ripple effect throughout the region, not just in Portugal.
One key issue, as we reported recently, is the looming oversupply crisis in Germany. A problem that is being exacerbated by this Portuguese bottleneck.
“There’s a sell-by date on these products. A grower in Alberta harvests, then it sits, it ships, it clears customs, it goes through 70-day export queues, by the time it reaches Germany, it’s four to five months old.
“Pharmacies expect at least a year of guaranteed shelf life under GMP, but many wholesalers don’t want product that’s already several months aged. This creates a bottleneck and contributes to oversupply in Germany. There’s a flood of older product, pricing pressure, and growing frustration in the supply chain.”
The torrent of cannabis from the Americas will not be contained by Portugal’s bottleneck though. Like any flood meeting an obstruction, it will carve new routes of least resistance across Europe.
According to Cordova, those who are not waiting for their own GMP licences are turning to the Czech Republic, and could soon shift to North Macedonia.
However, the key shift in the global supply chain, he states, is vertical integration… “Grow your own, process your own, export directly.”
Portuguese contract manufacturing organisations (CMOs) bridge that gap by importing raw or semi-processed material, carrying out additional processing or decontamination under GMP-certified conditions, adding a layer of compliance enabling these products to then be re-exported to EU markets.
As Cordova explained to Business of Cannabis: “Portugal has been the gateway into Germany and the UK, and to a lesser degree, Poland.
“It’s been a conduit where GACP growers, whether in Portugal or other countries outside Europe – predominantly Canada, Colombia, or Thailand – have used Portuguese CMOs, or what are colloquially known as GMP ‘washers’.”
This dynamic has been supercharged by the rapid rate of growth in the German market, with exports from Portugal in the first six months of this year topping 27,000kg, around 80% of the total, up from 46% in 2024.
The Raids That Shook
Europe’s Cannabis Empire
by Rolando García
Lisbon, October 2025. The room fell silent when Dr. Vasco Bettencourt, director at INFARMED’s Licensing Unit, took the stage.
He knew what awaited him: a hall packed with growers, exporters, and pharmaceutical operators anxious for answers after months of raids, suspended licenses, and delayed export permits.
“We’re improving the system,” he said, pausing between lines as if choosing words that wouldn’t spark further frustration. “These are growing pains.”
The remark, meant as reassurance, drew a mix of murmurs and raised eyebrows. For the companies filling the seats at the Portugal Medical Cannabis Conference (PTMC), growing pains are a threat to Portugal’s golden era as Europe’s post-harvest gateway for medical cannabis.
For nearly a decade, Portugal stood at the center of Europe’s cannabis map. Flowers from Canada, Colombia, South Africa, and Thailand arrived to be tested, repackaged, decontaminated, and certified under Europe’s Good Manufacturing Practices (EU-GMP). From there, they flowed onward to Germany and the U.K., the region’s largest medical markets.
The model worked so far, but is being threatened by Germany’s recent legalization, and the aftermath of a big judicial operation that shook the industry during the past year, when the police uncovered a web of licensed producers funneling product to illicit markets in Portugal, in Africa, and beyond.
At the conference, Bettencourt said that INFARMED, the Portuguese agency responsible for regulating and controlling all medical products -including cannabis-, is rolling out new software to register and monitor cannabis imports and exports through the UN’s National Drug Control System (NDS). He added that the agency’s next steps will focus on reducing licensing delays by introducing updated qualification procedures and enhanced digital tools for regulatory oversight.
He also shared that despite the turbulence, export volumes from Portugal still surpassed 2024 levels by August 2025, according to figures INFARMED presented at the same conference. Curiously, there’s no way of precisely knowing what portion of that volume came from abroad to be “GMP washed” (we will take a deeper look into this controversial concept) or was farmed in Portugal.
With companies abroad racing to certify their own in-house GMP facilities, the question hangs in the air: can Portugal hold its position as Europe’s middleman, or has the tide already turned?
The Raids That Changed the Rules
On May 20, 2025, Portugal’s Judicial Police launched Operation Erva Daninha, executing 64 search warrants and making multiple arrests on suspicion of international diversion. A second round, Operation Ortiga, followed in July, seizing roughly two metric tons and detaining foreign nationals, reported CannaReporter.
The cases remain under segredo de justiça, Portugal’s judicial secrecy rule. But the effect has already rippled through the industry.
As a consequence, INFARMED came under political fire for having signed off on documents tied to companies now under investigation. Its response was to tighten import/export rules and implement stricter due diligence requirements for all outbound shipments. The result is a system that’s apparently cleaner but slower.
Since June, companies say approvals that once took about 30 days now stretch beyond 70.
Applications must now include expanded certificates of analysis, verified GMP credentials for buyers and intermediaries, and scanned traceability codes for each batch.
Why the Numbers Don’t Work Anymore
Arthur de Cordova, CEO of California-based Ziel, has had a front-row seat to the shift. His company provides microbial control systems used in GMP-certified facilities worldwide, including Portugal, and increasingly, in Colombia and Thailand.
The company sells non-ionizing radiation systems used for microbial control—important because the German market restricts ionizing methods like X-ray or gamma irradiation, which require a lengthy strain registration process.
“I was in Portugal a week ago,” he told High Times. “For a year and a half, they had a very well-established pathway. If you were in Colombia or South Africa and needed access to Germany, you’d send the product to Portugal. Five or six contract manufacturers were doing it, and they had a vibrant business providing a solution for GACP (Good Agricultural and Collection Practices) growers around the world.”
That “solution” is now under pressure from two fronts.
First, the economics. “If a German wholesaler pays about three euros per gram,” de Cordova explained, “the Portuguese intermediary will take a chop of 60 cents out of it —around 20 percent. And if you need decontamination, you can add another 30 or 40 cents on top.”
For large producers shipping metric tons per year, those margins are hard to swallow. “That’s just economics driving the change,” he said.
Second, the political fallout from the scandals. “Now there’s a spotlight on INFARMED. They can’t afford another mistake, so they’re double-checking everything.”
If you’re a cultivator in Canada or Colombia, he noted, that means your product sits idle for weeks while you wait for payment. “That delay costs real money,” notes De Cordova.
Rather than wait in Lisbon’s queue, many international cultivators are starting to build their own EU-GMP-compliant post-harvest facilities.
“It’s not easy and it takes time and money,” de Cordova said. “You better plan for at least a year and a half from when you start the process—hire a consultant, upgrade operations, get audited, fix the findings, maybe get audited again.”
But if a company ships thousands of kilos a year, the savings stack up quickly. “It’s a function of the 60 cents to one euro you’re saving by not going through Portugal times the volume you’re putting through Portugal,” he explained.
De Cordova said the trend isn’t hypothetical: “I can name ten companies doing it right now.”
Colombia, Thailand, and smaller EU states are moving toward full vertical integration, installing microbial-decontamination technology on-site and certifying under EU standards.
But, despite the turbulence, Portugal remains Europe’s heavyweight exporter.
According to INFARMED data presented at PTMC Lisbon 2025, the country had already exported more cannabis by August 2025 than during all of 2024, when Portugal shipped over 20 tonnes of medical flower, making it second only to Canada worldwide.
The ‘GMP Washing’ Debate
For some markets, the goal might not be just to save money, but to preserve the quality of the final product.
Inside the industry, there’s a term that’s been frequently used to describe what Portugal provides to the European cannabis hub: “GMP washing.”
The phrase is used to accuse Portuguese processors of taking substandard, non-GMP flower, running it through remediation, and selling it as pharmaceutical-grade cannabis.
De Cordova rejects the framing. “It’s a bad word and a bad name,” he said. “It’s not fair to the people who are doing good jobs. If you go into a GMP facility in Portugal that’s doing this service, the standards of operation are equivalent to a pharmaceutical manufacturing operation.”
The fact is that technically, these processors perform validated steps—microbial decontamination, trimming, testing, packaging—under documented SOPs (Standard Operating Procedure) reviewed by regulators.
The process is compliant but not transformative. That’s why there’s a value added by the practices of certifying the buds, but it won’t ever be able to improve poor agronomy, curing, or terpene integrity.
As de Cordova put it, “There’s always going to be a little change. The quality team has to balance microbial reduction and quality preservation.”
He even notes that trimming often does more physical damage to the flower than decontamination. “If you want to talk about damage to trichomes,” he said, “more is done when you send dried flower through an automatic trimmer.”
Regulation, Politics, and Paralysis
Behind the numbers lies Portugal’s bureaucratic puzzle.
Leading journalists Laura Ramos of CannaReporter pointed to deeper structural issues: six different ministries share oversight of the cannabis industry, from health to agriculture to police, often without coordination. Patient groups and industry associations remain fragmented, leaving the sector without a strong lobbying voice.
That vacuum has political consequences.
In her view, Portugal’s famous decriminalization model, pioneered in 2001, hasn’t translated into a coherent cannabis framework. Citizens can possess small amounts, but growing or selling remains illegal, leading to what she calls “decriminalization without legalization.”
The contradiction fuels confusion. Even as Portugal exports tens of tonnes of medical cannabis each year, domestic access for patients remains limited, and police still make arrests for small home grows.
Can Portugal Hold On?
By every official metric, Portugal is still one of the world’s major cannabis exporters. But the structure of that leadership is shifting.
The raids and resulting bottlenecks have made the country’s GMP pipeline slower and costlier. For global producers, in-house GMP might now look like a rational long-term investment rather than an exotic option. Portugal’s next chapter depends on execution.
For now, the country will remain the business hub for medical cannabis, which has granted a leading role in the European cannabis economy. But gravity is shifting toward the cultivators and countries willing to own GACP and GMP from seed to sale. As de Cordova put it simply in our interview, given current conditions, “The telephone isn’t going to ring in Portugal as much.”
Ziel Helps Cannabis Growers
Protect Their Investment
by AJ Harrington
Cannabis microbial decontamination expert Ziel help cannabis growers protect their investment in their crop.
Commercial cultivators know that compliance is king. If a grower’s products don’t pass the required testing for contamination, they can’t be sold in regulated markets.
Most legal cannabis markets require testing for pesticides, heavy metals, and microbial contamination. Compliance with pesticide and heavy metals requirements is relatively straightforward and can be accomplished with proper operating procedures. However, as cultivators in California and regulated markets worldwide are aware, maintaining control over microbial contamination is a constant challenge. That’s where the decontamination company Ziel comes in.
In an Interview with IgniteIt, Ziel CEO Arthur de Cordova says the company’s name was inspired by its mission.
“Ziel is actually a German word. It means target,” de Cordova explains. “And what we do as a company is we target microbial pathogens.”
Ziel’s radio frequency decontamination solution was developed to ensure that agricultural products, such as nuts, seeds, dates, and prunes, were safe for consumption. As the regulated cannabis market began to take shape, Ziel started helping licensed growers protect their investments with technology that uses specific bands of the electromagnetic spectrum to reduce microbial contamination.
“We were the first company to commercialize a microbial decontamination solution for cannabis,” says de Cordova. “We began in 2015, so we’ve been at this for 10 years. And so we bring a wealth of knowledge to the industry.”
Ziel’s Unique Process Protects Product Integrity
Other decontamination processes, including gamma, X-ray, and e-beam, are also used by some cannabis cultivators. These methods, however, rely on ionizing radiation, which can change the molecular structure of cannabis flower, de Cordova explains. Ziel’s process, which utilizes non-ionizing radiation, is different.
“Decontamination with radio frequency has some very unique properties that others can’t match,” says de Cordova.
The process allows the cannabis to be gently heated throughout the volume of the flower, a process that eliminates much of the decontamination without altering the product.
“Our strategy is not to sterilize the product,” he notes. “It is to reduce the microbial pathogens below the threshold level required by compliance. So the product retains its natural properties, which is a good thing. This is what people want.”
Ziel’s microbial decontamination solution can be used on cannabis flower before it is laboratory-tested to help ensure it meets regulatory standards. The system can also be used to remediate cannabis that has failed testing, so it can still be sold.
Organic-Compliant Microbial Decontamination
De Cordova highlighted the fact that while some cannabis operators use gamma, X-ray, and E-beam radiation for decontamination, those solutions do not comply with regulations governing organic agriculture.
“If you’re an organic grower and you want to preserve your organic report card, radio frequency is organic compliant,” he explains, adding, “So we’re we’re unique in that.”
Ziel’s radio frequency cannabis decontamination is so unique, in fact, that the company has been awarded patents in two countries.
“All of our solutions for the cannabis industry are patented, patented in Canada and then in the United States,” de Cordova says, “which speaks to the deep intellectual property we have surrounding the use of radio frequency for the decontamination of cannabis.”
The Science Behind GMP Compliance - ICBC Berlin 2025
The European Union’s Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) standard helps ensure that cannabis products are safe for human consumption. All cannabis products produced domestically or imported to the European Union must be GMP-compliant before being sold in legal markets. Decontamination processes are at the heart of European GMP cannabis compliance. A team of expert panelists discussed various approaches to cannabis decontamination, regulatory requirements, and the unique GMP compliance hurdles facing the emerging legal cannabis industry.
Ziel Wins Innovator of the Year at the Business of Cannabis Awards 2025
We’re thrilled to share that Ziel has been named Innovator of the Year at the Business of Cannabis Awards 2025
This recognition highlights our dedication to advancing cannabis processing technology and setting new standards for safety, quality, and efficiency. Held on June 24, 2025, the Awards brought together over 300 industry professionals and leaders from across Europe to celebrate individuals and organizations shaping the future of cannabis.
The Innovator or Innovation of the Year category recognizes groundbreaking innovation or individuals transforming the cannabis industry through visionary ideas, technology, or forward-thinking solutions. For Ziel, this honor underscores the impact of our radio frequency (RF) technology, a solution that helps producers remediate microbial contamination while preserving product quality, potency, and terpenes. Our systems empower cannabis businesses to meet strict safety standards without compromising what matters most to consumers and cultivators..
The Journey to Innovation
- Eight years ago, Ziel entered the cannabis space, which had no commercially proven decontamination solution available.
- In 2016, Los Sueños Farms, Colorado’s largest outdoor farm, approached Ziel for help complying with new state microbial testing requirements.
- Ziel leveraged its experience from pasteurizing nuts and seeds to adapt RF technology for cannabis, installing the first commercial-scale prototype in April 2016.
- This pioneering move marked the start of a new era in cannabis safety, with original APEX units still operating today.
- In 2024, Ziel launched the new RFX units, delivering a more space-conscious, and single phase powered unit with European for producers worldwide.
- The Ziel RFX can process up to 160 pounds of cannabis flower per eight-hour shift with no downtime, using low-energy, non-ionizing RF wavelengths to kill mold and pathogens while protecting terpenes, trichomes, and cannabinoids.
- This approach is especially important in European markets like Germany, where ionizing radiation is discouraged due to safety concerns and regulatory complexities.
Moreover, Ziel’s technology provides cultivators with real-time data and the ability to use various decontamination settings, promising a 99.9 percent pass rate for microbial compliance. Customers also benefit from hands-on support with a team of technicians and scientists ready to help optimize operations and deepen understanding of microbial behavior across different strains.
Why Ziel’s RF Technology Stands Out
- Preserves Product Quality
Unlike ionizing radiation or harsh chemical methods, RF technology preserves terpenes, trichomes, cannabinoids, and overall organoleptic qualities. - Supports Regulatory Compliance
Radio Frequency helps cultivators meet strict microbial safety standards without altering the molecular profile of the flower, which is especially valuable in regulated European markets. - High Throughput and Efficiency
No downtime, maximizing operational efficiency. - Real-Time Data and Customization
Cultivators can access real-time data and use their customer dashboard to help plan future planting. - Trusted Support and Expertise
Customers work with Ziel’s team of technicians and scientists who help troubleshoot, optimize cycles, and turn remediation data into actionable insights in real time
The winners at this year’s Business of Cannabis Awards were chosen by an independent panel of 21 expert judges representing all corners of the industry, including scientists, business leaders, legal advisors, and policy specialists. Their diverse expertise and high standards ensure each award truly reflects measurable impact and genuine innovation.
Beyond the award itself, this recognition validates our team’s hard work and reinforces our commitment to building a smarter and more sustainable cannabis supply chain. In an industry where every company claims to be best-in-class, this win is proof that Ziel’s solutions truly set us apart.
We extend our deepest gratitude to the Business of Cannabis Awards team, our partners, and most importantly, the cultivators and processors who trust Ziel every day.
Congratulations to all the other winners and nominees who continue to move the industry forward. We are excited to keep pushing boundaries and supporting a stronger, safer, and more innovative cannabis future together.
If you would like to learn more about how Ziel’s RF technology can help your business, contact us here.
The hidden crisis plaguing cannabis
– and how to fix it
by Arthur de Cordova
The cannabis industry is facing a serious mold crisis that is devastating to cannabis businesses. Contaminated cannabis products are making their way onto dispensary shelves, aided in part by testing laboratories manipulating results to help products pass state-mandated safety thresholds, a scandal increasingly referred to as “labgate.”
Despite regulatory requirements, some labs overlook dangerous mold counts to protect their business relationships, resulting in unsafe flower making its way into the marketplace. For cultivators, a failed test means financial loss, as flagged products in systems like Metrc must be remediated, extracted, or chucked completely, leading to price erosion and reduced profit margins. At the heart of this crisis are inconsistent state regulations and weak enforcement.
But while headlines focus on lab fraud and product recalls, there’s less conversation about viable solutions. But there are two key fixes: enforce existing state-mandated regulatory requirements for mold or cultivators adopt a post-harvest decontamination protocol as part of their SOPs, ensuring flower is free of harmful pathogens before reaching consumers.
Mold Contamination is a Widespread Issue
Although states require cannabis testing, enforcement is inconsistent, and some labs are complicit in ignoring high mold counts due to the impact it could have on their business.
Massachusetts is currently losing its fight with mold. In February 2025, the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission issued a consumer safety alert after mold-contaminated flower was found in retail stores. The issue isn’t limited to lab malpractice; cannabis businesses also contribute to the problem by pressuring labs to pass contaminated products or by employing unsafe cultivation practices. A cannabis worker in Massachusetts recounted being told to “pick the moldy pieces off, then put the rest of it into a container to be sold.”
This mold problem is not unique to Massachusetts. In Colorado, businesses are permitted to self-select the samples they send to third-party labs. These samples are often decontaminated prior to testing, or companies partner with labs known to produce favorable results. Alarmingly, some companies skip testing altogether, choosing instead to pay fines rather than protect consumer safety. This trend signals that financial penalties alone are not enough of a deterrent.
Regulatory Oversight Fails to Keep Pace
While some states like California require labs, not growers, to collect test samples to ensure they are representative of a given batch, oversight still falls short. A whistleblower lawsuit filed by a former state lab regulator alleges she was terminated for pressing California’s Department of Cannabis Control to investigate claims of pesticide-contaminated cannabis.
Across the country, product recalls due to mold, pesticides, and other contaminants are becoming more common, exposing the vulnerabilities in state testing systems.
Signs of Progress in Cannabis Safety
Some states are beginning to address the issue with meaningful reforms. New Jersey’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission recently adopted new rules to strengthen product testing. These include reducing batch sizes from 100 to 33.07 pounds to ensure more representative sampling, banning lab shopping, and standardizing testing methods for mold, pesticides, and heavy metals.
In California, the newly formed nonprofit Environmental & Consumer Compliance Organization (ECCO) provides an independent certification for clean cannabis. Participating companies agree to random monthly testing and unannounced product sampling from dispensary shelves. So far, 13 companies have joined since ECCO began operations in January 2025, signaling a growing commitment to consumer safety and transparency.
The Case for Technology-Based Decontamination
Regulators must either more strictly enforce microbial regulations or the industry must proactively implement a microbial decontamination step before products reach testing labs. Mold is an unavoidable part of agricultural production; it spreads via air, water, and human contact. Even the most sanitized grow rooms can’t guarantee total mold prevention.
That’s why a decontamination step, akin to milk pasteurization, is critical for product safety. But adoption of a decontamination step is spotty because it’s not mandated by state regulations, making it easy for growers to skip this extra step. Fortunately, technologies like Radio Frequency (RF) treatment provide an effective and non-invasive solution.
Radio Frequency Technology
Unlike chemical or irradiation-based remediation, which can alter the product’s taste, smell, or potency, Radio Frequency technology eliminates mold and bacteria while preserving the flower quality. Companies like Ziel have created machines that have a greater than 99 percent pass rate and treat up to 160 pounds of cannabis per 8-hour shift, without using gas, chemicals, or X-rays. This offers a consistent, scalable solution to mold decontamination.
Industry-Wide Action on ‘Labgate’ Is Long Overdue
While scandals like labgate dominate headlines, effective solutions like microbial decontamination technology and stronger regulatory frameworks remain outside the conversation. It’s time for regulators, labs, and businesses alike to prioritize public health and industry integrity. Whether through stronger oversight or proactive microbial control, the tools to fix this problem already exist; the question is whether the industry will choose to use them.