Egor Gorshkov

Note 1 min read

A drug deal at the pharma fair

Fig. 1The shelf. German pharma trade fair.
Two lit shelves of cannabis buds in magnifier display cases at a pharmaceutical trade fair, each labelled with a strain name like Kush Breath, Tricho Jordan and LA Kush Cake.

A few years back, after Germany began legalizing the use of medical cannabis, pharmaceutical trade fairs in Germany began saturating with exhibitors selling cannabinoid therapies for epileptic children and cancer patients, with THC and CBD products.

Fast forward to today and some of those fairs have basically turned into what feels like a full-scale drug and party operation in the middle of what is otherwise an event mostly for pharmacists looking to get discounted rates from manufacturers. You've got dozens of booths, some with DJs, cocktails, the newest hybrid skunk strains on prominent display, baggies with samples, rolling papers, you name it...

Close-up of a cannabis bud under a magnifying lens, labelled Double Baked Cake.
Fig. 2 Double Baked Cake, under a magnifier.
Cannabis buds in clear display cases on a black shelf, the nearest labelled Runtz (LA Runtz).
Fig. 3 Runtz (LA Runtz).

And look, I'm totally fine with people selling drugs if they're legal.

But can we at least acknowledge how absurdly hypocritical the setting is?

It's a bit like Johnnie Walker turning up as the face of curing depression. Or the Heineken family leading Alzheimer's research.

Maybe we need to finally separate a few things properly. If weed has finally arrived on the market, going from illegal to medicinal and now to legally recreational, it no longer belongs in the health and pharma category.