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Colombia, long notorious as a violence-torn drug war dystopia, is now set to become a global leader in the legal production of cannabis for the medical market. Vancouver-based International Cannabis Corp, also known as ICC Labs, is the latest foreign company to win a production license in the South American country. ICC Labs says it intends to cultivate “non-psychoactive” cannabis plants containing the cannabinoid CBD to produce various medicinal products for domestic and international distribution. Although it excludes THC, this new development begs the question: is Colombia the next major player in medical marijuana?
ICC Labs In Colombia
“Obtaining Colombian licenses further establishes ICC Labs as the leading cannabis producer in Latin America and solidifies our international presence in low-cost jurisdictions,” said ICC Labs CEO Alejandro Antalich in a January 25 press release. “The Colombian approval process was rigorous and requires, among other things, the creation of social development projects at our cultivation locations.”
Antalich said the company’s experience in Uruguay, where it has recently planted more than 430 acres of cannabis to be used for CBD oil production, “will give us a competitive advantage over other Colombian license holders.”
In fact, Colombia aspires to meet a full 45% of global demand for medicinal cannabis in 2018. The director of the government body overseeing the medical marijuana program, Andrés López, broached that figure in an interview with Radio Caracol (cited in Bogotá’s English-language City Paper). He said he anticipated exports to Canada and several Latin American countries, including Argentina, Mexico and Peru. But he also emphasized that Colombia’s “internal market is very interesting,” saying that the government “has designed a system of