Luxembourg is on the brink of becoming a European hotspot for cannabis consumption and Aurora (NYSE: ACB) (TSX: ACB) has wasted no time in establishing itself as a market leader there.
The landlocked nation, which borders France, Belgium, and Germany, has just announced that it will permit recreational cannabis use.
Luxembourg released a 246-page missive on Monday to outline how the industry will be regulated, which states its aims to eradicate the black market and control supply.
The document says that production and purchase will be regulated within Luxembourg’s borders, but it does not currently have a large domestic cultivation industry, so there should be an opportunity for foreign firms. Luxembourg permitted medicinal use of cannabis in June 2018, pledging to import marijuana from Canada to be distributed via pharmacies.
Aurora has now signed a deal with the Luxembourg Health Ministry to supply medicinal cannabis to the country. It has received an initial order for around 20 kilos, making it just the second time it has received an order directly from a European government.
“To our knowledge, Aurora is the first medical cannabis producer selected by the Luxembourg Health Ministry to supply dried cannabis flower,” said Neil Belot, chief global business development officer at Aurora. “This is a reflection of the trust we have earned with governments and regulators around the world.”
It will be the seventh EU country that Aurora ships medicinal marijuana to, but the bigger prize could be furnishing retailers in Luxembourg with cannabis to be sold for recreational use a little further down the line. Several details still need to be ironed out with the framework for the recreational cannabis industry in Luxembourg, which has a population of 600,000, but forming a strong working relationship with the nation’s government cannot hurt Aurora’s chances of being at the front of the queue.
Aurora has a European subsidiary and it said it will continue to work directly with governments across the continent to increase its footprint in a growing market. It now has operations in 22 countries spread across five continents.
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