Portugal Debates Path Forward for Medical Cannabis: Key Takeaways From PTMC Lisbon 2025

Words by Lawrence Purkiss and Sarah Sinclair

Portugal hosted its seventh international conference on medical cannabis (PTMC) in central Lisbon last week, amid a growing feeling that the country – a once-thriving hub for European cannabis exports – is at an inflection point.

Discussion among speakers and delegates centred around, if and how Portugal could maintain and build upon its position as the leading producer and exporter, in the context of recent developments both locally, and in the wider European industry.

Dr Vasco Bettencourt, Director, at Infarmed’s Licensing Unit opened the conference with a constructive message, emphasising the resilience of the sector, and the need for transparency in the wake of the ‘Erva Daninha’ operation.

The operation by Portuguese authorities, uncovered a criminal organisation active within the country’s cannabis industry. However, Dr Bettencourt was keen to highlight that this was an isolated case, and not representative of the whole sector.

Bettencourt also announced that the regulator would be implementing new software for registering and tracking import and export shipments, using the UN’s National Drug Control System, and moving forward, its focus would be on addressing delays in the licensing process, with plans to implement new licence qualification systems, and new monitoring systems for regulatory oversight.

The first panel, moderated by Sarah Sinclair, Cannabis Health, saw Fátima Godinho Carvalho, Quality Assurance Manager at LEF, Danny Andrea, Director of Product and Projects at Curaleaf International, Amit Edri, CEO of Portocanna, and Helena Correia, a Cannabis Regulatory Consultant, explore the path forward for Pharmaceutical Science and Innovation in Cannabis Products and Medicines. 

Panellists discussed the most significant areas of innovation in medical cannabis, including in the production process, highlighting how reliability, stability, and reproducibility of the manufacturing process are key to the development of more accurate and precise medical products. 

The panel also explored the constraints of the existing regulatory frameworks, with all innovations having to remain compliant with a patchwork of regulatory systems across Europe, as well as the challenges of working within EU GMP with plant material like flower.

While conducting traditional RCTs can be challenging on cannabis products, a hybrid approach, which combines real-world evidence – now increasingly being used in more standard medicines, with more robust clinical trials – could be key for developing evidence for medical cannabis.

A key takeaway was the importance of developing product formats which are more in line with conventional medicines, such as capsules, topicals and inhalation devices. This is  crucial for increasing acceptance of cannabis-medicines among healthcare professionals and ‘cannabis naive’ patients, with Andrea highlighting an increasing demand for pastilles and other alternatives to flower in the UK market. 

Portugal hosted its seventh international conference on medical cannabis (PTMC) in central Lisbon last week.

Moderated by Laura Ramos, CannaReporter, the second panel, Building a Successful Cannabis Company: How to Attract Investment and Achieve ROI, welcomed Franziska Katterbach of Oppenhoff, Michael Sassano CEO of Somaí Pharmaceuticals, Joana Silveira Botelho of Cuatrecasas and António Vieira of AceCann, to share some practical tips for attendees looking to succeed in the sector.  

Founders should start with an authentic idea, the panellists said, identifying a clear niche that a business could fit in, which isn’t being filled by another company. Chasing the hype might be tempting, but is not a sustainable business model.

The old race to be first and biggest is also over, companies now need clear value propositions and realistic business plans. Success requires patience with lengthy timelines and upfront investment in strong legal/compliance structures contracts, audits, due diligence. This will save time and money in the long run.

Panellists also addressed common pitfalls, such as underestimating (or understating to investors) how long it takes to go from licensing to sales. Markets are unstable and roadmaps from past successes don’t always apply.

Ending on a call for the industry to come together to drive change, they stressed that it’s not always necessary to change legislation. There are ways to adapt regulation within the existing legal framework, without having to go through the parliamentary process.

Next up, Margarita Cardoso de Meneses of CannaReporter hosted the panel Cultivating, Processing, Distributing in Europe, where she was joined by Xavier Gaya, Cultivation Consultant at Avitas Global, Rui Soares, CEO of Paralab, Inês Campos Lima of BioLeaf Health and Louis Golaz of RED Horticulture.

The discussion centred around some of the challenges of cultivating in Portugal – and the need for more sophisticated systems for assessing performance, beyond yield. Contrary to what is often said about the country’s ‘ideal climate’, the high heat levels make greenhouse growing difficult, as a significant energy expenditure is required to keep temperatures down in summer, and high humidity also poses various problems. 

HVAC and drying rooms are major pain points, the panellists said. Poor systems can lead to contamination risks, costly cleaning, and possibly necessitating irradiation, potentially leading to consumer rejection in Germany.

Panellists argued that scaling production requires finding the right mix of automation and manual work across cultivation and post-harvest – some parts of the process require a manual touch, while others can be automated.

Stability of genetics underpins consistent SOPs and end products, they added. Emerging solutions include F1 seeds and triploid plants, moving away from legacy practices.

The final panel, moderated by Arnau Valdovinos of Cannamonitor, explored Global Supply Chains: Trends in International Markets with analyst Alfredo Pascual, Natalia Lopez, Big Leaf Consulting and Former Chief Cultivator at Thai Stick, Rob Smallman of Global Cannabis Exchange and Sita Schubert from the European Medicinal Cannabis Association (EUMCA).

This wide-ranging discussion touched on a number of important points, including potential regulatory reforms in Germany which could bring in tighter restrictions.

Misconceptions around product quality were also highlighted, with THC potency and recency of harvest are often used as proxies for quality, as was the fact that capital has chased vanity metrics (capacity, licences, countries) rather than competitive edge, leaving many operators without sustainable business models. According to Lopez, Thai cultivators are already entering the Australian market and could enter Germany as early as the end of the year, though regulatory delays remain likely. Deals are often slowed or blocked by inconsistent labelling, packaging, and cannabinoid content. As a result, many companies have unrealistic expectations for market entry timelines.

Panellists agreed that while national registration processes and European monographs for flower and extracts are emerging, harmonisation remains slow and there is a need for contaminant limits to be based on cannabis-specific data, rather than being based on existing pharmacopoeia standards. What they couldn’t agree on, however, is whether dried flower should be regulated under the EUGMP framework. 

Laura Ramos brought together representatives from political parties including Bárbara do Amaral Correia, PSD – Partido Social Democrata, Iniciativa Liberal Deputy Jorge Miguel Teixeira, and Cláudia Estêvão, Partido CHEGA, alongside experts in drug policy and cannabis science Prof Carl Hart and Alfredo Pascual.

The event closed with a special political debate to mark 25 years since Portugal voted to introduce decriminalisation.

Moderator Laura Ramos brought together representatives from political parties including Bárbara do Amaral Correia, PSD – Partido Social Democrata, Iniciativa Liberal Deputy Jorge Miguel Teixeira, and Cláudia Estêvão, Partido CHEGA, alongside experts in drug policy and cannabis science Prof Carl Hart and Alfredo Pascual to discuss the path forward. 

Like Uruguay in 2013, Portugal pioneered regulatory change in cannabis regulation, but has failed to continue to build on this. While it is ahead of the curve compared to some countries, it risks stagnating through a lack of further constructive engagement from the government.

Recreational cannabis regulation is on the agenda of discussion and debate within the ruling coalition in Portugal, however the direction of policy making and legislation is still being developed.

Estêvão expressed her concerns about the potential risks of cannabis, particularly around consumption in young people, and the need to tackle illegal drug trafficking, but was reluctant to answer direct questions about the failures of existing policies to address these issues. 

Prof Hart went on to stress that the debate around cannabis and the direction of policymaking in the political sphere is too often detached from scientific research, highlighting issues with scientific data and studies being conducted or interpreted with specific political outcomes in mind.

The panel closed with a call for continued dialogue and evidence-based policy-making, with a commitment from Bárbara do Amaral Correia, to move forward with informed decisions based on international best practices.