Tilray Brands Inc (TLRY)

[john1311]

Lars Müller wants to create the Starbucks of cannabis: a chain of dispensaries offering the full array of marijuana-related products, from tinctures to flowers and edible gummies.

“We want to build up a chain with an identical level of quality across Germany, something that exudes the professionalism of an Apple Store,” he said. “This is not going to be an opium den.”

Müller is chief executive of Synbiotic, a leading player in Germany’s burgeoning cannabinoid sector that invests in everything from growers to researchers and distributors. It is an industry experiencing a high of epic proportions.

The trigger was an announcement late last month from the three parties in Germany’s new coalition government that they planned to legalise cannabis. Synbiotic’s share price doubled on the news.

So far, the government’s exact intentions remain hazy: it says only that it would allow the “controlled sale of cannabis to adults for recreational purposes in licensed shops”. There have been no more details, and no timetable for legislative action.

But the plan could still turn out to be a game-changing precedent for the global business of growing and selling marijuana, one that will be closely watched by other countries toying with liberalising their drug laws.

“In terms of population, Germany would become the largest country in the world to allow the sale of cannabis,” said Constantin von der Groeben, managing director of Demecan, a local grower. “It’s a huge opportunity for us.”

If the plan goes through, Germany would join a highly select group of countries that permit the commercial sale of recreational cannabis — the only others are Canada and Uruguay, along with a handful of US states. For most big nations it is still uncharted territory.