Capable of generating at least 328 thousand jobs in Brazil, the cannabis market is still awaiting regulation, estimates the Kaya Mindan arm of the company Kaya responsible for producing solid data about the plant.
Despite the difficulty in quantifying the contribution of the cannabis market to the country’s employment sector, the importance of the plant can once again be confirmed by visiting the second edition of ExpoCannabiswhich until this Sunday (17) occupies one of the pavilions at São Paulo Expo, in the district of Jabaquara, capital of São Paulo.
At the entrance, after standing in a long queue, the visitor already realizes how difficult it is to choose a spot in the room to look at. In a somewhat symbolic arrangement, since perhaps this is the way to convince the most resistant to see the plant beyond the atmosphere of fun, the first stands are from cannabis medicinal.
In Florianópolis, Pedro Sabaciauskis, who watched his grandmother Edna gradually worsen with Parkinson’s disease, noted the effectiveness of cannabis oil in alleviating the symptoms of the neurodegenerative disease, the second most common of its kind worldwide. At the time, it was only his first victory, as it was necessary to import the medicine, which took around three months to arrive, which led him to order ten bottles at once. Each one cost R$1,800 and lasted one month.
And one dose was enough for Edna’s body to stop showing the rigidity typical of the condition she developed. Within 20 minutes, his expression changed, taking on the appearance of relaxation that had long been lost due to his illness. “We discovered an association in Fortaleza, called Embrace [Associação Brasileira de Cannabis Medicinal]which I saw on social media. I got in touch and they sent me some oil. I went to a doctor here in São Paulo, he advised me, and we gave it to my grandmother. Then it was a surprise, because the improvement came on the same day.”
“We already had a scare there, but, after 15 days, she regained the ability to sit down, get up on her own, go to the kitchen, get a glass of water, something that was unimaginable. And, within a month, She wanted to get her nails done, she started living again”, recalled Sabaciauskis, adding that her grandmother was once again able to spend time with her family, at lunches and other occasions.
The experience gave rise to Santa Cannabis Associationwelcomes people who are looking for information about treatments with cannabis oil or who need the medicine, including those who have low income or are in socially vulnerable contexts. “The preference of this market has to be from the lowest social class, which was always the one who was arrested for the same matter.” For Sabaciauskis, associations have a much greater role than just providing medicine, which is to defend the national interest. “It is the associations that have paved the way to make it possible to purchase greenhouses and other essential elements.”
Another axis of the Santa Catarina association is research. Santa Cannabis takes advantage of the authorizations it obtained to release studies and, with this strategy, it currently makes 15 studies viable, many of which, without such support, would have to go to court to exist. According to Sabaciauskis, the association he heads has already treated 6,000 people, with 200 different ICDs (International Classification of Diseases).
Pedro Sabaciauskis emphasized that embracing this cause requires courage and, at the same time, firmness. “It’s an act of courage, but also of willingness. Because defending cannabis in Brazil, whether medicinal or otherwise, is an act of courage, as there is a lot of prejudice, stigma. If you depend on your job, your family, you can’t do it, otherwise it suffers pressure from these places. The association, no, because it managed to bring together a team of people willing to face this and did so based on the Federal Constitution, for the right to health, which is universal, the right to meet in associations to change laws with which one does not agree with and the right to carry out peaceful and controlled civil disobedience.”
Sabaciauskis’ formula also had another essential component for the association’s network to grow. “We realized that we were much more afraid than we should have been. When you start taking care of people, people come to fight together and encourage you to continue. As there were a lot of people being taken care of who were sick, we started doing what role that belonged to the government.” He highlighted that Santa Cannabis generates jobs because of the distribution of medicines, patient care, which includes social services, the cultivation of the plant and the pharmaceutical processes involved, which guarantee quality.
Technology
Another segment of the cannabis world that absorbs professionals is information technology (IT). THE Complysoft is a startup (emerging company with a business model under development or improvement) specialized in useful tools for the medicinal cannabis market.
Based in João Pessoa, the company offers systems such as Comply Legacy, for managing documents and prescriptions, unifying records from all phases of the cannabis production and obtaining process. Through it, it is possible, for example, to store and consult laboratory tests for quality control. Another option are systems that unify instruments linked to patients, such as WhatsApp and e-mail.
Clients include cannabis associations, specialized clinics, importers and compounding pharmacies. Professional Mizael Mendonça Cabral says that he and his work partner André Vasconcelos were part of the IT sector of the Brazilian Cannabis Support Association Esperança (Abrace Esperança). There, Cabral understood that he could use his knowledge to help other associations improve services.
One of the exhibitors at the event, he said that the sector is not incipient, it is already an expanding job market in countries such as Uruguay, the first to legalize marijuana, and Paraguay. “Receiving the invitation to join the association was a calling for me. I always say that it is a spiritual mission. We are returning the plant to our nation, because it is a healing plant. I joined in 2014, to help this association, and I understand which is a life mission”, confides the native of Paraíba.
Vasconcelos’ story was different. He lived in California when he received the password to enter the cannabis universe. Before becoming a project manager at Complysoft, I provided assistance in the IT area. Regarding the degree of difficulty in recruiting professionals in the area, Vasconcelos said that there are still setbacks, generally related to taboo and prejudice in relation to the plant, generated by lack of knowledge of its properties and multiple uses. “But I see this as an obstacle that is not far from us to overcome”, he summarized.
Job center
On Friday, one of the stands The most popular event at ExpoCannabis was Cannabis Jobsa pioneer in Brazil. The portal advertises internship and temporary job vacancies for freelancers (self-employed), remote, volunteering and face-to-face, home office (remote work, from home) and hybrid.
The company also offers training and mentoring for candidates and employers, qualifying people who want to learn about leadership in the cannabis market and how to do networking (professional contact network). One of the important aspects in any segment and which is also required of professionals who work with cannabis is the mastery of trends and public policies. The company, therefore, assists in designing career plans.
