Close to 150,000 kilograms of medicinal cannabis produced within Denmark's regulatory framework was deliberately disposed of before ever reaching patients, according to official government figures.
MJBizDaily reports that authorities have issued more than 300 destruction permits covering 145,541 kilograms of cannabis for a range of reasons since the country's medical pilot program launched in 2018.
The Danish Parliament's Health Committee released the figures in response to a parliamentary inquiry submitted earlier this year.
A government spokesperson confirmed that the total encompasses all cannabis disposed of by companies holding cultivation authorisations under the pilot program, calculated from the date each firm received approval to operate.
The data shows that the volume of legal cannabis destroyed under the program exceeded the country's total production as reported to international drug regulators.
MJBizDaily international editor Matt Lamers said: "The numbers underscore that a significant amount of legal cannabis grown in certain countries is never sold for various reasons – such as poor quality, regulatory factors or insufficient demand – and is subsequently destroyed."
Canada offers a comparable reference point, with licensed producers there disposing of 872,443 kilograms of cannabis between 2018 and 2021.
Little Green Pharma (LGP) holds authorisation to manufacture bulk cannabis and primary products from its Danish facility.
CEO Paul Long said LGP Denmark is subject to "arguably the strictest GMP and regulatory requirements for cannabis flower globally".
Those requirements include a total ban on pesticide use and the mandatory destruction of validation batches following broader batch release.
The facility must also meet GMP standards that prohibit outdoor cultivation, enforce GMP-quality processes from the point of harvest, require tighter permitted deviation ranges for THC and CBD in finished products, mandate strict batch moisture levels of 10%, and impose a two-year registration process before products can be supplied into the Danish market.
He said: "These quality control requirements collectively result in significantly more testing, validation and destruction of cannabis flower to get to market than in any other jurisdiction, and may help explain the significant amount of product historically destroyed across Denmark."
Long added that LGP also took on nearly five tonnes of bulk-packed cannabis flower when it acquired the facility in July 2021, much of which was nearing expiration and therefore could not be sold in the Australian market.
He added: "In addition, LGP has conducted a comprehensive pheno-hunting program, which requires the cross-breeding and cultivation of multiple strains, resulting in over 20 genetics that LGP has or is actively developing.
"This experimentation requires the destruction of crops and constitutes the bulk of LGP's destruction count since the company has managed the facility.
"LGP otherwise currently grows to order, meaning the bulk destruction of cannabis for other reasons is unusual and typically related to grading activities, or where a product line is subsequently discontinued."
