Attending this year’s International Cannabis Business Conference in Barcelona, Health Europa delve more into the dynamic space of medical cannabis research.
The world regarding medical cannabis research has been taken on a whirlwind of adventures over the recent years, and ICBC has brought its characteristic blend of politics, business and culture to the mix. Health Europa were excited to attend the conference in Barcelona, where the event provided an immersive insight into topics ranging from international investment, regulation and policy to medical cannabis research and development in Spain, mainstreaming and partnerships.
A closer look at the event
Watch our short clip from ICBC Barcelona, which was hosted on 14 March 2019. Here we had exclusive interviews with Carola Pérez, Director of the Dos Emociones (Two Emotions) project and the Spanish Observatory of Medicinal Cannabis, and Òscar Parés, Deputy Director of the ICEERS Foundation (International Center for Ethnobotanical Education Research & Service) and Coordinator of Cannabmed.
Delve into the topics explored at ICBC Barcelona
Gaining an expansive insight into the diverse range of medical cannabis research, ICBC Barcelona explored the following topics;
Investment and capital markets: With the rapid growth of legal markets and investment in cannabis companies, the cannabis industry has become increasingly competitive with convergence of private equity and public markets capital. Moderated by Dean Arbit, CEO of Wagner Dimas and Bud.com, here Gavin Sathianathan CEO of Alta Flora, Mauricio Agudelo CEO of Bedrocan and Scott Van Rixel CEO of Bhang Chocolate providde an overview of the cannabis investor landscape.
International Investing: CEO of 3C, Nic Easley, delved into the public and private international cannabis investment strategies, highlighting how the international cannabis market is filled with high-risk investment opportunities, especially with emerging issues such as product contamination, international commerce import/export regulation liabilities, political and regulatory volatility and unqualified operators.
Cannabis Social Clubs: With an in depth focus on Spain, here David Madilyan, Creator and President of HQ, Dr Dina, VP of Operations at P & S Ventures, Bernardo Soriano, Attorney and CEO of S & F Abogados and panel moderator Jamie Shaw explore the dynamic cannabis culture in Spain. Cannabis social clubs is a phenomenon as-of-yet unique to Spain, which is essentially private, non-profit organisations in which cannabis is collectively grown and distributed to registered members. With no profit motive to increase cannabis consumption or initiate new users, the clubs offer a more cautious, public health-centred alternative to those who need it, compared to large-scale retail cannabis markets dominated by commercial enterprises.
Therapeutic medical cannabis and cannabis patient experience was a major theme Health Europa took away from this event, as information regarding regulation and policy has been exhausted, but patient experience is something that is yet to be further explored.
Other topics included medical cannabis research in Spain, international regulatory overview, mainstreaming of CBD, cannabis extracts, strategic partnerships and finally an interview with Damian Marley.
Health Europa also attended ICBC Berlin which was hosted 31 March – 2 April.
