The word of the founder

First of all, allow a bit of history to dispel various myths and rumors about our company and truthfully about individual deliveries from 2014 to the present.
Everyone who is interested in the issue of cannabis knows that our republic approved the use of medical cannabis for medical purposes as early as 2013, as the second country in the EU. It was enforced in the Parliament of the Czech Republic, mainly with the support of important experts in this field, such as Dr. Zabranský, Dr. Kubů, Prof. Žaloudík and some important Czech politicians. Of course, we were not the first to “discover America” ​​in this, but it was based on the experience of countries that have used medicinal cannabis for a long time, such as the Netherlands, Israel, etc. These experts, who relied on for human ailments – centuries and new studies, and also drew on the work of our most important scientist in the field of medical cannabis, Prof. Hanuš, who has been studying the effects of cannabionid and the human body for a long time and currently works at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. They succumbed to a bit of euphoria and believed that perhaps, and I underline this word, we will start using this natural medicine to a greater extent, which does not harm human lives, especially in palliative care, pain treatment, as chemicals with harmful effects, especially with long-term use, they knew well.
On the basis of an international convention ratified by the Czech Republic, an agreement dealing with medical cannabis, the so-called SAKL, was established under this agreement. drugs (hereinafter referred to as SÚKL) on the basis of the law was to select the first Czech grower of medical cannabis. Even before that, however, a tender was announced for an importer of medical cannabis from abroad in order to take advantage of the time before cannabis is grown in the Czech Republic. We applied for this task and after obtaining the appropriate documents such as handling of narcotics and psychotropic substances, good manufacturing and distribution practices, etc., we won this tender. And we imported the first medical cannabis from the Netherlands, through their agency, (like our SAKL) from Bedrocan.
Here, let me tell you exactly how our society got on this issue. I am a graduate of agricultural college, I come from an agricultural family, and agriculture has been my alpha and omega since I was young. After 1989, I started as an independent private farmer, having previously worked in an agricultural cooperative since graduating from school. I have always had a fondness for medicinal plants and I also grew them and supplied them to the LEROS Strážnice company. From the region, I managed about 50 hectares of land, of course at that time without subsidies. As is well known, the fields in Wallachia are far from fertile and costly per hectare, what in Haná. That is why at that time, all agricultural cooperatives in Wallachia had some so-called associated production, in order to subsidize agricultural production and especially the salaries of workers. I was also thinking of this thinking during my work in the collective farm, that there is a need for other production, more industrial, which would be lucrative. That’s why we started to produce products with an ecological focus, namely various containers for sorting household waste. I do not want to describe, nor does it belong here, the huge problems in starting the activities of private entrepreneurs, especially when they have succeeded, all stemming from human envy.
I state this because at the beginning of our participation, especially in the cultivation of medical cannabis, we were accused by the media, the press, etc., that I quote: “locksmiths from Slušovice grow medical cannabis”. However, no one has asked that the origins lie in agriculture and other related sectors. But it wasn’t just these allusions. I was mainly annoyed by reports and discussion posts that we are connected with the former empire of JZD Slušovice by Associate Professor Čuba and his acquaintance with President Zeman, etc. There was talk of millions that Chuba will rake, etc. Because of these and dozens of other insults that I received facebook, I stopped using this convenience. The company Elkoplast Slušovice s.r.o. it has nothing to do with the former JZD Slušovice. I know Doc Chuba, I respect him, and I worked here for a while. However, after the revolution, I created my own company, which has only one seat in Slušovice. It is currently a prosperous company for 28 years, with several divisions, such as agriculture, Cannabis, plastics, metal, electrical, etc.
Back: I imported cannabis with the permission of the Ministry of Health, as I have already stated from the Netherlands from Bedrocan, which at the time was already recognized worldwide as the best grower of medical cannabis in Europe. There were all the Certificates and the cannabis was handed over to the state authority. And even then, I heard from the guaranteed reports that prescribing cannabis is a problem in our country, I do not mean administrative matters, but in the area of ​​prescribing frequency.

However, I am writing here mainly about our company and not about something that I cannot responsibly evaluate, something that I do not see well, but still allow me, later, to express my opinion.

Another event came about this event, which also cost effort but was not so financially demanding. A tender was announced for a domestic grower of medical cannabis, to which we also applied. It was clear that this was a complete step into the darkness, especially under the conditions proclaimed. No greenhouses, no cellars, etc., but work at a medical level. Although I had studied almost all the available literature, most of it was about private and small cultivation. By this time I have already gained a lot of acquaintances and good, passionate people, such as Bc. Gabriel, who helped me a lot in gaining contacts, especially to the company Bedrocan in the Netherlands, which I had the opportunity to visit several times and see what cultivation looks like at the medical level. quality. After winning the tender, I nevertheless asked the company Bedrocan, with the help of acquaintances in this field, for possible cooperation on a quality level of cultivation for our state. They were willing, especially from the company’s boss Tjalling Erkelens. We agreed on the conditions, and cultivation began successfully. Initially, we performed government contracts on time, but due to various legislative changes in this area, which were to some extent understandable due to a completely new industry in the field of healthcare, which brought a lot of unexpected changes and decisions, it also brought us some losses. However, this was due to difficult-to-control circumstances, especially in the area of ​​medicinal cannabis consumption, where the initial euphoric considerations were far from being met. For unknown reasons, our doctors, who had the appropriate permission to prescribe cannabis, were unable or unwilling to prescribe this drug responsibly.

No wonder: no more education, rather negative, little information and a lot of other rather brakes and sometimes even an inquisitorial approach to this type of treatment in the Czech Republic, caused us to fall deeply out of second place at EU level in the legalization of medical cannabis. I will not, and hardly anyone can responsibly evaluate what the real cause was. In my opinion, no one can blame anyone fundamentally, and I believe that the whole problem is in the development and time that took place differently in each country. Therefore, I do not accept various allegations that this or that party has caused low consumption of medical cannabis for patients. Some organizations claim that cannabis was not grown. SAKL will confirm that part of this drug, which was not consumed for the above reasons, was passed after exp. time disposed of. At present, there is a sufficient amount of medical cannabis on the market, both from our production, which has not been particularly discontinued, and also from imports, even after certain problems, where we now fulfill contracts with another tender, by the way, where for small quantities is ordered by the state, and which are not profitable, Bedrocan also withdrew from cooperating in the performance of these contracts and we therefore grow on the basis of their experience, for which they deserve sincere thanks, in this case separately.

Certainly, at present, as the most important element in expanding the use of cannabis for medical purposes, there is certainly a need for more training for doctors who prescribe cannabis in order to increase their number as much as possible. I believe that all this will develop positively over time.

My special thanks go to all the collaborators in this area, and especially to Professor Lumír Hanuš, whom I dare, with his permission, to call a personal friend who, despite our failures, has always given me new motivation, strength and determination in something special, nor can money or words sufficiently describe, as it is a question of a personal and principled nature. Definitely, cooperation with control bodies such as SÚKL or SAKL is at a high level.

I wish all “hemp” a lot of love and respect for this plant and its effects on human health.