A new cannabis farm in the Algarve
A Danish company has started producing large quantities of medical cannabis on a farm in the municipality of Lagoa, growing within strict legal and security rules for medicinal cannabis.
Scientists say medicinal cannabis can alleviate symptoms such as the pain associated with cancer and multiple sclerosis, and the nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy. It can also stimulate appetite and prevent weight loss in people with HIV/AIDS, help treat certain rare forms of epilepsy, and even improve anxiety, insomnia, and sleep quality.
The Lagoa farm is inside a security perimeter of 8.7 hectares that must fulfil mandatory security requirements including video vigilance, an anti-intrusion system, and access control. The transportation of cannabis must also be carried out according to a set of rules including fully informing the local authorities.
The sunny weather in the Algarve is perfect for growing cannabis. The sandy soil in the Lagoa farm is excellent because it allows good water drainage and a breathable environment for the roots of the plants.
Unfortunately, the growers are now facing a very concerning period due to water availability. However, cannabis is not as water demanding as many other plants. The producers have a water-saving policy with which they collect water from their drainage system, guide it into a pond, and then use mainly drip irrigation. They are investing in the improvement of the irrigation system to be able to manage it and control it carefully, to guarantee there’s no water wastage.
There are two medicinal cannabis farms in the eastern Algarve, but for Lagoa, it all started recently with a Danish mother company, Schroll Medical, a group owned by brothers dedicated to the production of ornamental plants in both Denmark and Portugal.
Sandra Sal, the company’s agronomist, explained that Schroll Flowers was mainly focused on hydrangeas. In 2018, after a friend with a serious health problem started to use CBD oil that improved her life quality in a way that allowed her to restart working, the brothers understood the positive influence medical cannabis could have in many patients’ lives. They came up with the idea of using their growing skill to produce medical cannabis and started taking all the necessary steps to start the project.
In 2018, the group acquired a company in Lagoa dedicated to organic herbs production. They called it Schroll Flavours and continued this activity, selling organic herbs to several countries in Europe. A year later, the group took the first steps of the cannabis project.
In 2023, after achieving the certificate that authorizes the cultivation of medical cannabis, and submitting the request for another certificate that provides the necessary permission to produce active pharmaceutical Ingredients Schroll Flavours left the production of organic herbs to concentrate 100% on cannabis production based on organic farming principles.
The plan is to have all-year-round production. However, because the intention is to produce in outdoor conditions and under organic farming principles, the growers will be more subject to the climate and environmental conditions than growers of other plants.
The Danish company aims to export to several countries in Europe from the middle of this year.
During 2024, it hopes to produce several tones of the plant with a medical quality that allows it to be released as a starting material for all relevant plant-based cannabinoid products.
Written by Len Port
Lagos: Drug traffickers arrested for kidnapping customers, to collect debts
Two young people aged 21 and 22 have been arrested for drug trafficking, robbery, aggravated robbery, extortion and kidnapping, in Lagos.
The defendants, sold cocaine, heroin, hashish and crack for amounts ranging between 20 and 80 euros, then kidnapped the consumers that owed them money.
In a statement published on the Faro District Attorney's Office portal, the Public Ministry ( MP ) states that “following the sale of the drug, on January 4, 2024, around 5:00 pm, in Lagos, the defendants restrained a man 30 years old and with him physically controlled, they entered his home, where they took his cell phone and money from his housemates”.
On January 13th, in Lagos, “the defendants physically dominated another man, aged 27, and with him under control, they went to his sister's house, where they demanded 2,000 euros from him under the threat of physically attacking him. The sister, fearing that the threat would materialise, after negotiation, handed over 500 euros.”
According to the MP, on January 27th, “in the city of Lagos, the defendants placed the aforementioned victims in the trunk of a car and drove around the city of Lagos”.
During the journey, they seized 4 euros belonging to the 30 year old man and demanded the 27 year old victim pay them another 500 euros. Along the way, they removed the 30 year old victim from inside the vehicle and the 21 year old defendant attacked him on the knee and shoulders with a baseball bat.
The arrests were made by the Public Security Police., and the two are in preventive detention.
Algarve farmers protest for better conditions
Algarve farmers held a slow march in agricultural vehicles between Faro and Castro Marim this morning, to demand draw attention to their calls for “fair conditions” and the “valuation of the activity”.
Participants gathered next to the Algarve stadium, in Parque das Cidades Faro-Loulé, at 5:00 am, starting a on ehour long slow march along Estrada Nacional 125, to Castro Marim.
The demonstration is part of a set of actions called by the movement for Thursday, in various areas of the country, in which agricultural machinery is planned to be taken to the roads, to demand better conditions for the farming undustry. which presents itself as “a spontaneous and non-partisan civil movement that unites farmers and civil society in defense of the primary sector”.
The spontaneous protest was called by the Civil Farmers Movement of Portugal yesterday, inviting “all civil society to be present and support this cause”, Portuguese farmers say they are “united and prepared to defend themselves from the permanent attack on sustainability, food sovereignty and rural life”.
The Civil Farmers Movement of Portugal highlights that its objective is “to support farmers and improve the productivity of the agricultural sector, ensuring a stable supply of food at affordable prices”.
The structure defends the “immediate replacement of aid” and the “assumption of contractual commitments” as part of a review of the Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan ( PEPAC ) to ensure its adaptation “to the Portuguese reality”.
Among the demands are also the recognition of environmental services, production factors “at fair and competitive prices” (particularly in fuels), the valorization of products at the producer, the application of the same European Union rules to the entry of agricultural products from third countries and that agriculture be part of the Citizenship subject in schools.
Man crashes his car into a cafe after being refused a beer
A 38 year old man drove his car through a cafe window earlier this week, as revenge for being refused a beer by the cafe staff member. See video HERE.
The vehicle crashed through the front of the Tasca da Calçadinha cafe at high speed on monday evening, running over the owner of the cafe, and the commander of the volunteer firefighters who was there off duty.
The cafe owner suffered injuries to his legs, the commander had several cuts to his legs, and three further victims were thrown and pressed against the counter of that commercial establishment.
The 'incident' was a deliberate act by the driver, who wanted to take revenge for the fact that minutes before, one of the cafe's employees had refused to sell him a range of beers on sale. At first, the customer argued and fought with the employee, but other people present separated the two. The driver ended up leaving the cafe with a friend, but returned later, alone, at which point he rammed the car into the cafe.
The driver also ended up suffering injuries, but still tried to flee the scene. He reversed, but ended up crashing his damaged vehicle into the fire commander's personal vehicle, which was parked next to the cafe. It was at that time that the people detained the driver until the arrival of the GNR soldiers from the local Monforte police station.
Two of the victims – the fire commander and a female customer – had to receive hospital treatment for the cuts they suffered. The suspect was also taken to the hospital, but he ended up signing a liability waiver and was discharged.
People told the GNR that it was not an accident, but rather an intentional 'ramming', which led the GNR to call the Évora Judicial Police, as this scenario could result in five attempted murders – one for each victim.
The Judicial Police inspectors were on the scene until 2 am carrying out inspections at the site, they collected images from the video surveillance system installed in the cafe, and returned on Tuesday to interview people who were present in the cafe at the time of the event.
According to people, this is not the first time that the suspect has caused trouble in other establishments in this region of Alentejo.
The losses have yet to be quantified by the cafe's current management, who had only been in charge of the cafe for two months, but the damage to the facade, furniture, counter and various merchandise suggests that it could amount to several thousand euros.
The main suspect has been formally detained by the authorities.
Via do Infante: 3 injured in a multi-vehicle crash
A collision involving four vehicles on the Via do Infante near Loulé yesterday morning, resulted in 3 people suffering only minor injuries.
The accident involving three light vehicles and a truck, happened just after 11am yesterday morning at Km 69 on the Via do Infante, at the Loulé junction, heading towards Albufeira.
Two women of Brazilian nationality aged 25 and 40, and a Portuguese man aged 30, were taken to Faro Hospital with injuries considered to be minor.
There were 22 operational personnel on site, with 10 vehicles from the Loulé Fire Department, GNR, INEM, Red Cross and the Via do Infante concessionaire.
February will start with above average temperatures
Geographer and editor-in-chief of Meteored Portugal, Alfredo Graça, predicts that February will start with above average temperatures for the time of year, but in the second half of the month, a change is expected.
The climatological winter is about to enter its final month. Cold wintery weather and precipitation have been rare in recent weeks. This is due to the establishment of a strong crest-blocking anticyclone that has conditioned the weather in our country, bringing stability and temperatures significantly above average.
According to Alfredo Graça, geographer and specialist at Meteored Portugal, “February has a reputation for being very variable in meteorological terms, as drastic weather changes can occur in a matter of hours this month. Analyzing the climatology of February in mainland Portugal, it can be seen that this is one of the rainiest months of the year in our geography, as it has the fifth highest average monthly rainfall among the twelve months of the year (78.7 mm)”.
February 2024 will begin with high temperatures above the climatological reference average. According to the climatological normal (1981-2010), February is the third coldest month of the year in mainland Portugal, with average temperatures up to 1.7 ºC higher in inland regions than in January.
In several areas of the country, average maximum temperatures range between 16 ºC and 17 ºC (Center and West Coast, Lezíria do Tejo, Baixo Alentejo and Algarve ), with records of up to 26 ºC.
On the other hand, average minimum temperatures are still between 0 and 2 ºC in regions such as Northeast Trás-os-Montes and Beira Alta . All this takes on meaning when we know that in February the days get longer and daytime temperatures have a greater margin to rise, but the nights continue to be very cold in most parts of the country.
Will rain reach the regions that need it most in February?
For the first half of February, no substantive changes in the weather are expected. It is practically certain that until February 5th, high pressure will continue to prevail over mainland Portugal, which will result in widespread stability.
Changes may occur between the 5th and the 12th, but not very significant: the map shows lower than average rain levels in the Algarve. In the remaining regions, for this week, no unusual values were observed.
For the second half of February, there is a tendency for rainfall to normalize. However, the predictive value of these maps is very low due to the time period to which they refer, so it will be necessary to continue monitoring map updates.
For the second half of February, everything indicates that the Algarve region will be one of the few to register up to 1 ºC above average, with the rest of the continent's geography having temperature values within the reference climatological average. So, if this happens, the winter weather will be over, without a cold snap.
But in meteorology there is always room for surprises, especially in a month like February, known for its drastic variability in weather conditions.
