ENCOD GA 2023

ENCOD General Assembly 2023

Thanks very much to our dear friends Konopex, to help us with their invitation.
Konopex

GA ENCOD 2023, April 21st – 23rd, Ostrava, Czech Republic

https://konopex.cz/en/
Agenda
Hybrid : In a meeting room or on stage / Online via Zoom

Friday, April 21st
19:00 Stage at Conference space
Open fora “Cannabis and the EU: Ongoing regulations” / Public
Focussing on Cannabis Social Clubs (CSC) as a model for a legal non-profit market
International Organizations, their past and their future
[this event will be held in English with translation to Czech and vice versa] Unfortunately is limited to 30 minutes, but is the last presentation on Friday. As ENCOD is having its annual General Assembly during the fair we will be happy to continue the dicussion office@encod.org or let’s just sit down and discuss, all positive input welcome.

Saturday, April 22nd, half public
from 11 a.m. –
Country reports / Public – approx. 1 hour
– in a seperate room on floor 0
– we will put up signs and give exact directions as soon as available.

4:20 p.m.– 6 p.m.: Guest intervention – CSCs in Czech republic (with online presence/presentation of
German CSCD roof organisation, CatFAC Barcelona, ReLeaf Malta) – to be announced, most probably in room on floor 0 too
18:00: Encod Road map 2023 – 2025 / Public (1 hour approximately)

Sunday, April 23rd, private, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Presentation activity report 2022 – Vote
Presentation financial report 2022 – Vote
General debate / ENCOD situation
Election Executive Committee – Vote
Election Board – Vote

demo-attachment-1402-Blog-9

How Savvy Investors With $500,000+ Build Their Retirement Plan

I Am So Happy, My Dear Friend, So Absorbed In The Exquisite Sense Of Mere Tranquil Existence,

That I Neglect My Talents. I Should Be Incapable Of Drawing A Single Stroke At The Present Moment; And Yet I Feel That I Never Was A Greater Artist Than Now.

When, While The Lovely Valley Teems With Vapor Around Me

Hitting newsstands in the June 2019 issue, and as part of a prominent Inc.com feature, the list is the result of a wide-ranging and comprehensive measurement of private American companies that have created exceptional workplaces through vibrant cultures, deep employee engagement, and stellar benefits. The publication singled out 346 finalists after collecting data on nearly 2,000 submissions.

“Since day one, AgBiome has operated with a unique, non-hierarchical management system with no fixed reporting structure. The company is instead run by committees of passionately committed employees,” explained Elizabeth Claypoole, Chief People Officer, AgBiome. “This award is a testament to how AgBiome’s unique structure not only enables us to attract and retain better scientific talent, which is critical to our mission, but also allows us to make decisions faster and innovate better. This certainly differentiates us from our larger, more bureaucratic competitors.”

Each nominated company took part in an employee survey, conducted by Omaha’s Quantum Workplace, on topics including trust, management effectiveness, perks, and confidence in the future. Inc. then gathered, analyzed, and audited the data. Then the publication ranked all the employers using a composite score of survey results. This year, 74.2 percent of surveyed employees were engaged by their work—besting last year’s score of 72.1 percent.

The strongest engagement scores came from companies that prioritize the most human elements of work. These companies are leading the way in employee recognition, performance management, and diversity.

While researching the finalists, Inc. and Quantum saw distinct themes:

  • 99 percent provide health insurance—and some cover the cost.
  • 49 percent allow employees to bring pets to work.
  • 65 percent take employees to offsite retreats to relax and recharge.
  • 16 percent offer paid sabbaticals to reward length of service.

While researching the finalists, Inc. and Quantum saw distinct themes:

AgBiome discovers and develops innovative biological and trait products for crop protection. Our proprietary Genesis™ discovery platform allows us to efficiently capture and screen the most diverse and unique microbial collection for agriculturally relevant applications, coupled to industry-best screens for insect, disease and nematode control. Through its commercial subsidiary, AgBiome Innovations, Inc., the company develops and sells proprietary crop protection solutions. The first of these, Howler™, is a revolutionary biological fungicide for disease control in a broad variety of specialty crops. LifeEDIT, an AgBiome subsidiary, deploys proprietary genome editing systems to address human genetic diseases and high value crop traits.

demo-attachment-1397-Blog-11

Amazon gets CCI nod to acquire 49% stake in nod to acquire stake in nod

When, While The Lovely Valley Teems With Vapor Around Me, And The Meridian Sun Strikes

The Upper Surface Of The Impenetrable Foliage Of My Trees, And But A Few Stray Gleams Steal Into The Inner Sanctuary, I Throw Myself Down Among The Tall Grass By The Trickling Stream; And, As I Lie Close To The Earth, A Thousand Unknown Plants Are Noticed By Me: When I Hear The Buzz Of The Little World Among The Stalks, And Grow Familiar With The Countless Indescribable Forms Of The Insects And Flies, Then I Feel The Presence Of The Almighty, 

Who Formed Us In His Own Image, And The Breath

Hitting newsstands in the June 2019 issue, and as part of a prominent Inc.com feature, the list is the result of a wide-ranging and comprehensive measurement of private American companies that have created exceptional workplaces through vibrant cultures, deep employee engagement, and stellar benefits. The publication singled out 346 finalists after collecting data on nearly 2,000 submissions.

“Since day one, AgBiome has operated with a unique, non-hierarchical management system with no fixed reporting structure. The company is instead run by committees of passionately committed employees,” explained Elizabeth Claypoole, Chief People Officer, AgBiome. “This award is a testament to how AgBiome’s unique structure not only enables us to attract and retain better scientific talent, which is critical to our mission, but also allows us to make decisions faster and innovate better. This certainly differentiates us from our larger, more bureaucratic competitors.”

Each nominated company took part in an employee survey, conducted by Omaha’s Quantum Workplace, on topics including trust, management effectiveness, perks, and confidence in the future. Inc. then gathered, analyzed, and audited the data. Then the publication ranked all the employers using a composite score of survey results. This year, 74.2 percent of surveyed employees were engaged by their work—besting last year’s score of 72.1 percent.

The strongest engagement scores came from companies that prioritize the most human elements of work. These companies are leading the way in employee recognition, performance management, and diversity.

While researching the finalists, Inc. and Quantum saw distinct themes:

  • 99 percent provide health insurance—and some cover the cost.
  • 49 percent allow employees to bring pets to work.
  • 65 percent take employees to offsite retreats to relax and recharge.
  • 16 percent offer paid sabbaticals to reward length of service.

While researching the finalists, Inc. and Quantum saw distinct themes:

AgBiome discovers and develops innovative biological and trait products for crop

protection. Our proprietary Genesis™ discovery platform allows us to efficiently capture and screen the most diverse and unique microbial collection for agriculturally relevant applications, coupled to industry-best screens for insect, disease and nematode control. Through its commercial subsidiary, AgBiome Innovations, Inc., the company develops and sells proprietary crop protection solutions. The first of these, Howler™, is a revolutionary biological fungicide for disease control in a broad variety of specialty crops. LifeEDIT, an AgBiome subsidiary, deploys proprietary genome editing systems to address human genetic diseases and high value crop traits.

demo-attachment-626-Blog-7

Monet and Architecture, review: familiar paintings and Architecture

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“Since day one, AgBiome has operated with a unique, non-hierarchical management system with no fixed reporting structure. The company is instead run by committees of passionately committed employees,” explained Elizabeth Claypoole, Chief People Officer, AgBiome. “This award is a testament to how AgBiome’s unique structure not only enables us to attract and retain better scientific talent, which is critical to our mission, but also allows us to make decisions faster and innovate better. This certainly differentiates us from our larger, more bureaucratic competitors.”

Each nominated company took part in an employee survey, conducted by Omaha’s Quantum Workplace, on topics including trust, management effectiveness, perks, and confidence in the future. Inc. then gathered, analyzed, and audited the data. Then the publication ranked all the employers using a composite score of survey results. This year, 74.2 percent of surveyed employees were engaged by their work—besting last year’s score of 72.1 percent.

The strongest engagement scores came from companies that prioritize the most human elements of work. These companies are leading the way in employee recognition, performance management, and diversity.

While researching the finalists, Inc. and Quantum saw distinct themes:

  • 99 percent provide health insurance—and some cover the cost.
  • 49 percent allow employees to bring pets to work.
  • 65 percent take employees to offsite retreats to relax and recharge.
  • 16 percent offer paid sabbaticals to reward length of service.

While researching the finalists, Inc. and Quantum saw distinct themes:

AgBiome discovers and develops innovative biological and trait products for crop protection. Our proprietary Genesis™ discovery platform allows us to efficiently capture and screen the most diverse and unique microbial collection for agriculturally relevant applications, coupled to industry-best screens for insect, disease and nematode control. Through its commercial subsidiary, AgBiome Innovations, Inc., the company develops and sells proprietary crop protection solutions. The first of these, Howler™, is a revolutionary biological fungicide for disease control in a broad variety of specialty crops. LifeEDIT, an AgBiome subsidiary, deploys proprietary genome editing systems to address human genetic diseases and high value crop traits.

demo-attachment-633-Individuals-1

Mantegna and Bellini review: ‘Distinct masters and Bellini Distinct masters …

The article below is taken from SaaS PHLOX. To order your free copy, click here. If you’re a SaaS provider

I accepted all of the alt-right maxims I saw as a Reddit moderator, despite my Jewish upbringing in a liberal household with a tight-knit family that taught me compassion, empathy, and respect for others.Now, I’m 16, and I’ve been able to reflect on how I got sucked into that void—and how others do, too. My brief infatuation with the alt-right has helped.

My own transformation started when I switched into a new school in the middle of eighth grade

But unlike others, I found that validation on the alt-right corners of the internet. The alt-right and the tech platforms that enable it became the community.A few weeks after I started going to my new school, I noticed that a bunch of the guys in my class were browsing a website called Reddit. I didn’t understand what the site was or how it worked, but I was desperate to fit in and make a mark in my new environment.

“Since day one, AgBiome has operated with a unique, non-hierarchical management system with no fixed reporting structure. The company is instead run by committees of passionately committed employees,” explained Elizabeth Claypoole, Chief People Officer, AgBiome. “This award is a testament to how AgBiome’s unique structure not only enables us to attract and retain better scientific talent, which is critical to our mission, but also allows us to make decisions faster and innovate better. This certainly differentiates us from our larger, more bureaucratic competitors.”

Each nominated company took part in an employee survey, conducted by Omaha’s Quantum Workplace, on topics including trust, management effectiveness, perks, and confidence in the future. Inc. then gathered, analyzed, and audited the data. Then the publication ranked all the employers using a composite score of survey results. This year, 74.2 percent of surveyed employees were engaged by their work—besting last year’s score of 72.1 percent.

The strongest engagement scores came from companies that prioritize the most human elements of work. These companies are leading the way in employee recognition, performance management, and diversity.

While researching the finalists, Inc. and Quantum saw distinct themes:

  • 99 percent provide health insurance—and some cover the cost.
  • 49 percent allow employees to bring pets to work.
  • 65 percent take employees to offsite retreats to relax and recharge.
  • 16 percent offer paid sabbaticals to reward length of service.

While researching the finalists, Inc. and Quantum saw distinct themes:

AgBiome discovers and develops innovative biological and trait products for crop protection. Our proprietary Genesis™ discovery platform allows us to efficiently capture and screen the most diverse and unique microbial collection for agriculturally relevant applications, coupled to industry-best screens for insect, disease and nematode control. Through its commercial subsidiary, AgBiome Innovations, Inc., the company develops and sells proprietary crop protection solutions. The first of these, Howler™, is a revolutionary biological fungicide for disease control in a broad variety of specialty crops. LifeEDIT, an AgBiome subsidiary, deploys proprietary genome editing systems to address human genetic diseases and high value crop traits.

demo-attachment-629-Retirement-1

Cheat Sheet: 5 Steps to Grow Your Wealth During Retirement Grow Your Wealth

I went up to one of those guys during study hall and asked how to use Reddit.

He helped me set up an account and subscribe to “subreddits,” or mini communities within the Reddit domain. I spent the rest of that period scrolling through Reddit and selecting the communities I wanted to join.

That doesn’t mean this is a game show. We’re not holding open auditions like

it’s a reality competition. We’ll be vetting for skills, perspectives, and experiences that complement the decades of experience that our team already brings to bear.

But just the mere act of letting the world know we want to include more candidates in the process has connected us with a significant number of extremely talented and experienced people—many of whom had never considered participating in a startup at this level before.

“Since day one, AgBiome has operated with a unique, non-hierarchical management system with no fixed reporting structure. The company is instead run by committees of passionately committed employees,” explained Elizabeth Claypoole, Chief People Officer, AgBiome. “This award is a testament to how AgBiome’s unique structure not only enables us to attract and retain better scientific talent, which is critical to our mission, but also allows us to make decisions faster and innovate better. This certainly differentiates us from our larger, more bureaucratic competitors.”

Each nominated company took part in an employee survey, conducted by Omaha’s Quantum Workplace, on topics including trust, management effectiveness, perks, and confidence in the future. Inc. then gathered, analyzed, and audited the data. Then the publication ranked all the employers using a composite score of survey results. This year, 74.2 percent of surveyed employees were engaged by their work—besting last year’s score of 72.1 percent.

The strongest engagement scores came from companies that prioritize the most human elements of work. These companies are leading the way in employee recognition, performance management, and diversity.

While researching the finalists, Inc. and Quantum saw distinct themes:

  • 99 percent provide health insurance—and some cover the cost.
  • 49 percent allow employees to bring pets to work.
  • 65 percent take employees to offsite retreats to relax and recharge.
  • 16 percent offer paid sabbaticals to reward length of service.

While researching the finalists, Inc. and Quantum saw distinct themes:

AgBiome discovers and develops innovative biological and trait products for crop protection. Our proprietary Genesis™ discovery platform allows us to efficiently capture and screen the most diverse and unique microbial collection for agriculturally relevant applications, coupled to industry-best screens for insect, disease and nematode control. Through its commercial subsidiary, AgBiome Innovations, Inc., the company develops and sells proprietary crop protection solutions. The first of these, Howler™, is a revolutionary biological fungicide for disease control in a broad variety of specialty crops. LifeEDIT, an AgBiome subsidiary, deploys proprietary genome editing systems to address human genetic diseases and high value crop traits.

demo-attachment-203-Nonprofits

Happy Healthy Dogs – From Adoption to Donations & All Things in Between

Company attracts and retains top scientific talent with its unique corporate structure, vibrant culture

Research Triangle Park, NC – May 16, 2019 – AgBiome, the private company harnessing the plant microbiome for novel agricultural pest solutions, announced today the company was named one of Inc. magazine’s Best Workplaces for 2019, the publication’s fourth annual ranking in the thriving private company sector.

AgBiome was given the same recognition by the magazine in 2018.

Hitting newsstands in the June 2019 issue, and as part of a prominent Inc.com feature, the list is the result of a wide-ranging and comprehensive measurement of private American companies that have created exceptional workplaces through vibrant cultures, deep employee engagement, and stellar benefits. The publication singled out 346 finalists after collecting data on nearly 2,000 submissions.

“Since day one, AgBiome has operated with a unique, non-hierarchical management system with no fixed reporting structure. The company is instead run by committees of passionately committed employees,” explained Elizabeth Claypoole, Chief People Officer, AgBiome. “This award is a testament to how AgBiome’s unique structure not only enables us to attract and retain better scientific talent, which is critical to our mission, but also allows us to make decisions faster and innovate better. This certainly differentiates us from our larger, more bureaucratic competitors.”

Each nominated company took part in an employee survey, conducted by Omaha’s Quantum Workplace, on topics including trust, management effectiveness, perks, and confidence in the future. Inc. then gathered, analyzed, and audited the data. Then the publication ranked all the employers using a composite score of survey results. This year, 74.2 percent of surveyed employees were engaged by their work—besting last year’s score of 72.1 percent.

The strongest engagement scores came from companies that prioritize the most human elements of work. These companies are leading the way in employee recognition, performance management, and diversity.

While researching the finalists, Inc. and Quantum saw distinct themes:

  • 99 percent provide health insurance—and some cover the cost.
  • 49 percent allow employees to bring pets to work.
  • 65 percent take employees to offsite retreats to relax and recharge.
  • 16 percent offer paid sabbaticals to reward length of service.

While researching the finalists, Inc. and Quantum saw distinct themes:

AgBiome discovers and develops innovative biological and trait products for crop protection. Our proprietary Genesis™ discovery platform allows us to efficiently capture and screen the most diverse and unique microbial collection for agriculturally relevant applications, coupled to industry-best screens for insect, disease and nematode control. Through its commercial subsidiary, AgBiome Innovations, Inc., the company develops and sells proprietary crop protection solutions. The first of these, Howler™, is a revolutionary biological fungicide for disease control in a broad variety of specialty crops. LifeEDIT, an AgBiome subsidiary, deploys proprietary genome editing systems to address human genetic diseases and high value crop traits.

Earth Garden Report ENCOD Website Karen Mamo Pic 01a

ENCOD at Earth Garden Festival Malta 2022

As the festival season kicked-in in Malta, ENCOD participated at the first harm reduction booth set up at Earth Garden festival. Organised from 3rd to 5th of June, Earth Garden Festival is synonymous with the local entertainment scene and provides a family friendly atmosphere to those visiting the festival grounds. Spread over three days and including the participation of numerous local and foreign artists, the festival attracted thousands of people throughout the weekend. The different music genres, information stalls, but also a number of workshops addressing health and well-being facilitated an innovative educational and talking hub.

ENCOD‘s new president Dr Fabian Steinmetz delivered a very well attended workshop on cannabis quality and transparency. Dr Steinmetz congratulated Malta for the historic legislative change decriminalising cannabis, and the possibility to establish non-profit cannabis associations, like ENCOD’s own Cannabis Social Club model. He spoke about the importance of promoting an educated approach, especially for those who have found a new passion for horticulture and anything green. Focusing on the role of education and knowledge about different risks associated with home growing, the ENCOD President highlighted the importance of identifying possible contamination of cannabis and bioburden (presence of microorganisms), especially in country’s prone to humid weather and thus increased risk of mold, as is the case in Malta.

The Harm Reduction booth, sponsored by the University of Greenwich, was set up by ENCOD member Ms Karen Mamo who for the past couple of years has been pushing for a humane and a harm reduction approach for drug use in Malta. Through the facebook page Harm Reduction Malta, Karen is the first local researcher to advance a human rights-based approach to drug policy and is further advocating for the rights of people who use drugs.  Together with Dr Giulia Zampini – founder of the People and Dancefloors project, Karen spoke about the nexus between drugs in society, education and public health.  

 

During the visit to Malta, President Steinmetz also used the opportunity to meet with Ms Mariella Dimech, Chairperson of the Authority for the Responsible Use of Cannabis, whereby discussions revolved around the role of testing and the dialogue between cannabis growers, consumers, and authorities.  

ENCOD’s participation was covered by the excellently penned article No more ‘war’: reducing harm is the new language on drugs, written by journalist Maya Dimitrijevic, working with one of the leading newspapers in Malta, MaltaToday

In the picture from left to right:
Dr Fabian Steinmetz, ENCOD, Schildower Kreis, LEAP Germany, Delphic HSE
Dr Giulia Zampini, senior lecturer University of Greenwich and founder of People and Dancefloors project.
Ms Mariella Dimech, Chairperson of the Authority for the Responsible Use of Cannabis.
Ms Karen Mamo, researcher and promoter of Harm Reduction in Malta, and member of ENCOD since 2019.

 

 

 

 

demo-attachment-203-Nonprofits

Happy Healthy Dogs – From Adoption to Donations & All Things in Between

When, While The Lovely Valley Teems With Vapor Around Me, And The Meridian Sun Strikes The

But A Few Stray Gleams Steal Into The Inner Sanctuary, I Throw Myself Down Among The Tall Grass By The Trickling Stream; And, As I Lie Close To The Earth, A Thousand Unknown Plants Are Noticed By Me: When I Hear The Buzz Of The Little World Among The Stalks, And Grow Familiar With The Countless Indescribable Forms Of The Insects And Flies

O My Friend — But It Is Too Much For My Strength— I Sink Under The Weight Of

Hitting newsstands in the June 2019 issue, and as part of a prominent Inc.com feature, the list is the result of a wide-ranging and comprehensive measurement of private American companies that have created exceptional workplaces through vibrant cultures, deep employee engagement, and stellar benefits. The publication singled out 346 finalists after collecting data on nearly 2,000 submissions.

“Since day one, AgBiome has operated with a unique, non-hierarchical management system with no fixed reporting structure. The company is instead run by committees of passionately committed employees,” explained Elizabeth Claypoole, Chief People Officer, AgBiome. “This award is a testament to how AgBiome’s unique structure not only enables us to attract and retain better scientific talent, which is critical to our mission, but also allows us to make decisions faster and innovate better. This certainly differentiates us from our larger, more bureaucratic competitors.”

Each nominated company took part in an employee survey, conducted by Omaha’s Quantum Workplace, on topics including trust, management effectiveness, perks, and confidence in the future. Inc. then gathered, analyzed, and audited the data. Then the publication ranked all the employers using a composite score of survey results. This year, 74.2 percent of surveyed employees were engaged by their work—besting last year’s score of 72.1 percent.

The strongest engagement scores came from companies that prioritize the most human elements of work. These companies are leading the way in employee recognition, performance management, and diversity.

While researching the finalists, Inc. and Quantum saw distinct themes:

  • 99 percent provide health insurance—and some cover the cost.
  • 49 percent allow employees to bring pets to work.
  • 65 percent take employees to offsite retreats to relax and recharge.
  • 16 percent offer paid sabbaticals to reward length of service.

While researching the finalists, Inc. and Quantum saw distinct themes:

AgBiome discovers and develops innovative biological and trait products for crop protection. Our proprietary Genesis™ discovery platform allows us to efficiently capture and screen the most diverse and unique microbial collection for agriculturally relevant applications, coupled to industry-best screens for insect, disease and nematode control. Through its commercial subsidiary, AgBiome Innovations, Inc., the company develops and sells proprietary crop protection solutions. The first of these, Howler™, is a revolutionary biological fungicide for disease control in a broad variety of specialty crops. LifeEDIT, an AgBiome subsidiary, deploys proprietary genome editing systems to address human genetic diseases and high value crop traits.

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Germany’s Changing Drug Policy: Current Challenges and Future Potential

ENCOD regularly publishes articles in the Cannadouro Magazine from Portugal.

Here’s the last summer edition published in the Portuguese language with the English version below.

In late 2021, the new German government announced its plans to legalize recreational cannabis: A milestone in European drug policy. Legalisation will control quality, increase youth protection, and stop the spread of contaminated cannabis. The announcement was followed by enthusiasm, not only in Germany but all over Europe and the world. So far though, the police are continuing to arrest and abuse people for cannabis possession, the black market is thriving, and cannabis activists are taking to the streets demanding action. So, what is happening?

German drug policy is at a fundamental turning point in time, not only regarding Cannabis. As the most populated state in Europe, German cannabis policy will significantly influence European and global policy. As EU law dictates adherence to the international drug conventions, Germany´s way of dealing with the 1961 Single Convention and the international drug policy bodies CND (Commission on Narcotic Drugs) and INCB (International Narcotics Control Board) will be key. However, with the new government comes a new Drug Czar: Burkhard Blienert. His position was so deliberately neglected by the former governments, his two predecessors most notable achievements were meme-worthy interviews and providing the legalization movement with new slang words for cannabis. In comparison, Blienert has been an advocate for decriminalisation, legalisation, and harm reduction inside his own, sometimes reluctant, party and will be the first drug Czar to speak at the annual Hemp Parade, the biggest pro-cannabis legalization demonstration in Germany. Just the announcement that Blienert was going to be the new Drug Czar sparked excitement amongst people involved in harm reduction as well: “Now the office (of Drug Czar) is occupied by a person with drug and health-related knowledge who is using this foundation towards a more humane drug policy…” says Dirk Schäffer, a representative of the Deutsche Aidshilfe (German Aids help). As of now, the German minister of health, Karl Lauterbach, has announced that a cannabis legalization law will be drafted in the second half of the year. There are no specific details yet, just that cannabis is supposed to be sold in specialized shops and that national and international experts will be involved in the process. One of the more important questions, whether growing cannabis at home will be legal, has not been answered yet, with politicians from the Liberal and Green party proclaiming to be in favour of growing at home while the Social Democrats seem to be hesitant.

But progress isn’t only happening regarding cannabis. The Psychedelic Renaissance has arrived in full force in Germany and even the state is getting involved. Several psychedelic society groups have popped up in places like Berlin, Leipzig and Hamburg, promoting topics around psychedelic substances. But the most notable psychedelic project happening in Germany right now is the EPIsoDE-study, a clinical stage II trial researching psilocybin for therapy-resistant depression. The study is done by several research organizations, among them the prestigious Charité university hospital in Berlin. While still being officially banned by governments around the world, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research finances the study with almost 2.3 million Euros in total, citing the potential of psychedelics for mental health issues. Results are expected to come out in 2024/2025 and could lay the groundwork for further research into psychedelic compounds in Germany.

And lastly, it was announced that harm reduction services will be expanded. While being considered progressive at the international level, on the ground harm reduction programs have struggled during the last years. In his first international speech, Blienert made several comments about these issues, promising a more effective and humane approach focusing on harm reduction, prevention, and treatment. A notable new development is the government’s decision to introduce drug checking services. Again, no details have been published, but after several German states and municipalities tried to introduce them and failed at the federal level, a federally supported drug checking program sparks high hopes in the German harm reduction community.

Cannabis legalization, psychedelic research, drug checking and a Drug Czar actually qualified for his position: German drug policy could be in for a fundamental change in the coming years.

By Nils Biedermann, ENCOD