Gozo cannabis farm sues ARUC over delayed approval

A cannabis farm has taken the authorities to court claiming to have spent over four months waiting for permission to set up a cannabis association in Gozo.

This emerges from a judicial protest filed yesterday by Sun Growers Farm CHRA against the Authority for the Responsible Use of Cannabis (ARUC), Parliamentary Secretary for Reforms Rebecca Buttigieg, and Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri.

In the document, Sun Growers Farm says that it had applied to set up a cannabis association in Gozo in May 2023, which was followed by lengthy discussions with ARUC aimed at becoming a licensed cannabis association.

Last August, the farm was sent a number of recommendations and corrections by ARUC in order for their operation to comply with the law and the applicable regulations. Sun Growers claim to have implemented the recommendations without delay and to have informed ARUC of this by email later that same month.

But four months, one week and several reminders later, the Farm said that it had not yet received a response from ARUC. The plaintiff pointed out that other organisations had received a response within a few days and claims that to have suffered discriminatory treatment. Six cannabis associations: KDD Society, Ta’ Zelli, Sprawt, Northern Lights, NEGE, and Pollen Theory, have been licensed to date. They are expected to be in a position to begin selling their produce in the coming months.

The judicial protest explains that Sun Growers Farm had already made a substantial financial outlay to prepare the business, identify growing sites and had entered into operational agreements with service providers.

The judicial protest warned that the agreements meant that the situation could not remain in limbo indefinitely and had already meant that the plaintiff had to fork out additional sums of money to keep its providers interested.

The judicial protest demanded a reply from ARUC within two weeks, in the absence of which further court action would follow.