Barry's story or how Portugal treats hemp farmers like traffickers

On the day that the National Republican Guard (GNR) knocked on his door, Barry McCullough, 42 years old, English nationality, still tried to explain to agents that he grew industrial hemp and not cannabis. He showed the bag of seeds, the certification that it was less than 0,2% THC, and also the various male plants that existed in the middle of the plantation, something you could never have if you were growing “illicit” cannabis. He also tried to show the e-mails exchanged with DGAV – General Directorate of Food and Veterinary Medicine, to obtain authorization, but the agents ignored him, as “they were more interested in the plants”. Barry was arrested, arraigned and his plantation completely destroyed. 

Barry's arrest would take place on July 28, 2021, in an operation carried out by the GNR Criminal Investigation Nucleus, with three cars and ten agents. This is not an unprecedented situation in Portugal. Since 2018, several farmers have complained of “persecution” by the police forces and of “inaction” or “dual criteria” on the part of the DGAV. Pawel Szopa ou Hugo Monteiro are just two more examples of many similar cases in Portugal, in which farmers end up being accused of the crime of “drug trafficking”.

The difficulty of distinguishing hemp from cannabis
At least two GNR agents admitted to Cannareporter not being able to distinguish hemp from cannabis, so the GNR “submits the plants seized in the context of a criminal process to the Scientific Police Laboratory, an organization certified for the purpose”. In 2020, the GNR “made 354 seizures of cannabis plants”. In 2021, until the 31st of July, “it made 132 seizures, and these data are provisional”.

The hemp that the GNR seized on Barry's property appeared in the Portuguese press as if it were illicit cannabis. Photo: GNR

For its part, the DGAV confirmed that it granted only 22 of the 69 applications for cultivation authorization it received and guaranteed that it has “very solid scientific and technical knowledge about the culture and the applicable legislation” to hemp.

ACCIP – Associação de Comerciadores do Cânhamo Industrial de Portugal, said that, in 2021, DGAV carried out “an illegal collection of data, by demanding contracts for the supply of hemp productions with the same level of detail that is required by Infarmed from companies of medical cannabis” and called for the creation of a state office exclusively dedicated to the production, research and leverage of industrial hemp in Portugal. also the CannaCasa — Industrial Hemp Association, repudiated the action of the authorities and criticized the inflexible stance of the DGAV, which, in addition, requires the submission of documents that are not mentioned in the legislation.

Barry's story:
"I consider hemp to be necessary. If I don't, someone else will."

In 2018, Barry decided to take advantage of the lease of some land from a friend, near Estremoz, in the Alentejo, to test the cultivation of industrial cannabis varieties in the Portuguese climate, for which he obtained authorization in 2018 and 2019. Delays and blockages from DGAV to hemp cultivation were therefore already known to Barry. In 2020, no authorizations were even issued. The advance of another sowing season, while still waiting for a response to the second submission of documents in the 2021 application, made her decide to move forward, even though she still did not have the final approval of that body from the Ministry of Agriculture. 

Did you ask DGAV for authorization to plant industrial hemp in 2021?
Yes, I submitted a request to DGAV, as I did in previous years. They replied to my email and I discovered that the documentation had been changed. In previous years, the process only required sending a notification saying that hemp was going to be produced and it was not necessary to wait for authorization. This year, they didn't recognize several documents I sent, I had to make a new application and send more documentation, so I had already started planting before receiving the authorization. 

So, did you fill in the form on the website, send it and get a response?
They replied saying that the documents had to be changed and I sent a new form, also explaining what the harvest was for and all that. I have not received a response to this email.

Barry had obtained permission to plant hemp in 2018 and 2019

What was the purpose of your plantation?
The plantation was mainly intended for the investigation of viable varieties to obtain organic seeds. We have great demand in England for organic hemp seed oil, so we wanted to work with Portuguese farmers to test different varieties. It only had a few hundred plants, which is a small amount for hemp growing, but it was a successful plantation. The objective was to see how much seed we can produce per variety in this climate. Even in a small amount of plants we can see how much seed is produced per 100 meters, for example, what production can be obtained. But when the GNR saw the plans, they just assumed something. Agents saw this small amount of plants and assumed it was cannabis with THC.

What variety were you growing?
A French variety, “Felina 32”.

How many plants did you have?
It had between 400 and 500 plants. I only had time to plant that amount, about a kilo from a 25kg bag that I bought from a producer in France, certified by the European Union (EU).

Did you show this documentation to the GNR?
Yes, I showed on the computer what I had sent to DGAV, the form, the photo of the bag, the bag, the producer's THC certificate… They just took a quick look and wanted to see the plants. I have seeds from previous years, from two other varieties, and I showed them the bags with the certificates. These are all EU certified seeds and that's all I grow.

Did the GNR know where the plants were or did they ask you to show them around?
One part is visible from the courtyard, the other is at the end of the path. They arrived, crossed the courtyard, and when I left they addressed me by name. They said they were looking for me, I was open and respectful, they did the same with me. They wanted to know if I had authorization and I explained the whole situation. I was not aware of the new system in place, which required very clear authorization. It was different in other years, but maybe there was a misinterpretation on my part. It was unlucky because it ended up creating this problem.

The following afternoon, he was heard by the judge… Did you have any accusations?
Yes, there was an accusation. Possession of cannabis or intent to traffic cannabis. It was all referred to as cannabis rather than hemp or Cannabis Sativa L., which is the Latin expression for hemp.

Even though you showed that you had made a request to grow hemp, were you always treated like a cannabis dealer?
Yes. I had old, very dry flowers in boxes, flowers that were over a year old, to make tinctures, topical skin compresses, for sunburn and the like. When they found the boxes with the flowers, they assumed it was cannabis with THC and they were quite happy. (laughs)

But these flowers were also hemp flowers, right?
Yes, just hemp flowers! All I've grown are EU certified hemp seeds, but they couldn't tell, just sniffed them and… oh! (laughs)

The GNR press release, issued on the day of his arrest, estimated the plantation at 500 euros, or 55 doses…
In fact, no one would buy that! It's old, dry and horrible! It has no value and it wasn't supposed to, because it was for my investigation, for my personal use, so it was crazy to read it in the press.

How did it feel to be treated like a drug dealer in the media?
It was a little shocking. I spoke to one of the policemen that day and he was able to understand what I was saying, but from their point of view it did not seem to them to be a favorable situation: “There are a small number of plants, there are flowers”… and I understood that they had to carry out their process, but on the same day they released this press release, with this unsubstantiated view, which was quite shocking to me. They were really excited as they thought it was a great find, but it wasn't! You can test the flowers, which will have a very low THC level… it's just hemp.

The bag of hemp seeds, Felina 32, that Barry grew in Alentejo, southern Portugal

What were the judge's conclusions after this court hearing?
The judge had a large dossier, with photos of evidence, and for her the situation did not seem very favorable either: “There are flowers, there are bags, there are plants…”. There were very few hemp plants, but if they were THC cannabis plants, there would be a lot of plants. He asked me many questions and I answered them honestly and clearly for a long time. Had to tell me to shut up once or twice. I think she realized that I am familiar with the cultivation process and that I am a hemp grower, so she said that I could go free, but that for three months I could not leave the country, and that every week I had to present in the GNR. They took my cell phone and my computer, to find out if there is any evidence of traffic, business or sale. There is an investigation going on and I think at the end of the three months the process will be re-evaluated. I believe they are waiting for the flower testing.

What are your expectations after these three months?
I hope they do the tests on the flowers and that they can prove the THC level is very low, because there is no evidence of trafficking on my cell phone or computer. I hope you will conclude that I am a hemp grower, that the seeds are EU certified and that my flowers and plants are just hemp. I can understand that the licensing process was confusing, that I made a mistake, but it wasn't intentional, and I am willing to accept and follow the legal process to the letter next year and continue. I wish the investigation could be completed in these three months or less, because if I cannot leave the country in October, I will not be able to make my hemp harvest in England in time. And I have to be there! So, for me, it is very important that the investigation be done quickly.

Do you consider suing the State for this error?
I'm not sure. I understand that the licensing process was a mess, but there was another way of doing things, I could have shown the documents, they didn't have to uproot the plants... We could have talked, I could have talked to DGAV, if there was more requirements we could have collaborated to find the solution. But they came expecting something else.

Did this have any implications for your personal life?
Yes, it was stressful for me and my family and friends, who were very worried because I couldn't communicate with them for more than 24 hours while I was at the station, and they didn't know what was happening. Then the legal costs, which are a big burden. The past year has been a difficult year for everyone, including our UK business, and this cost is really a huge burden. And it's only just begun...

Do you have an idea of ​​the damage, in financial terms, in this process?
It's hard to count. It's more the work, effort and research involved... I could have produced seeds this year, extracted the oil, have a sample to taste, see the size of the seeds, know how much is produced by each plant... That's what I grew it for, to get an idea of ​​how much can be produced, bring a machine to extract the oil from the seeds and show it to other Portuguese farmers and associations. I wanted to bring some agricultural practices and knowledge from England and then cultivate on a larger scale, because things are still underdeveloped in Portugal.

In legal terms, how does it work in the UK?
We have a license in England for a period of three years. That license ended this year and we had to resubmit the application for another three years, but the application this year was very difficult, it took months and months… There were new regulations and requirements that took a lot of time, email exchanges and discussion, to try to find a way to do it. Eventually, they realized that the requirements for all hemp farmers were unrealistic, so they had to change some of them. It was a long process and quite difficult.

How long have you been growing hemp?
This is our fourth year of cultivation.

Do you find it increasingly difficult to grow hemp?
I would say yes.

In your opinion, why are there so many difficulties for hemp growers at this time?
For the same reason it was banned the first time, for associating cannabis with THC. And for that reason, the fear remains that those who grow hemp will start growing cannabis with THC. Cannabis with THC has been around longer than humans. Humans have been using it for longer than we can imagine. It's not a danger per se, alcohol is more dangerous and it's free and available. It's just the human perception of the matter. There's a lot of stigma and hemp is associated with that, so there's this fear, that a hemp grower might produce cannabis with THC. It seems to me that these obstacles come from politics, but I'm not sure why, considering all the benefits hemp can have for humanity.

With that in mind, do you still want to invest in hemp? How do you feel now that you've had these problems?
I consider hemp to be necessary. If I don't, someone else will. In terms of how the world is going, sustainable plantation at all levels, from industrial, or even food, to medicinal use (and here I am not talking about the highly sophisticated medicinal use of plants with a high CBD content, manufactured in a laboratory, but the therapeutic, basic use of natural herbs that anyone can grow in their own backyard). All these are human needs. Being able to produce a kind of graphene that is affordable and non-polluting, or material that is sustainable in terms of water use, all these things are necessary for the planet. Humans are running up against a wall and we need this, hemp can provide all these things if enough resources are invested. If I don't, eventually others will. It's my vision. We'll get there.
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Interview originally published in issue #3 of Cannadouro Magazine