Shares of Tilray surged as much as 9% in premarket trading on Thursday after the Canadian medical-cannabis producer said it had received regulatory approval to export more products to Germany.

Tilray’s medical-cannabis oil was already on shelves in German pharmacies. The company will soon be able to sell its whole-flower products in addition, making it the only producer that sells both types in Germany.

Martini Meinreiß is a former construction worker, who in his words, "got infected with the cannabis legalization virus" several years ago. His blond-white dreads speak of an earlier chapter in his life spent as a bit of an international adventurer, writes Margueritte Arnold. These days, when not working on cannabis-related diplomatic missions of all kinds, he can be found in his garden and with the grandkids (from several extended families).

Cannabis has traveled the world and was found in the sites of prehistoric nomads, ancient China, Indian culture and Viking Ships. The origin of Cannabis dates back to thousands of years in Asia and eventually spread to the Americas and the United States. Through most of the historic journey, Cannabis has been used for a medicinal and spiritual purpose.

The demand for medical marijuana in Germany has skyrocketed since it was legalised in March last year, placing a greater burden on the country's health insurance providers to cover the cost of prescriptions.

A new report published by German health insurance company Techniker-Krankenkasse, or TK, and the University of Bremen found that as of February nearly 16,000 patients nationwide had applied to be reimbursed for medical marijuana costs, compared to around 1,100 before the law came into effect.

The authors of the "Cannabis Report" also question the medical benefits of cannabis, often touted as an "herbal wonder drug."

Since medical marijuana was legalized in Germany in March last year, an increasing number of patients are being prescribed the drug. But the healthcare industry has been less enthusiastic about the boom and many questions have gone unanswered.

Demand for cannabis has shot up since it was legalized about a year ago. Around 44,000 units of the plant covered by health insurance were distributed to patients in 2017, according to figures from the pharmacy association ABDA which were recently shown to the German Press Agency (DPA).

The Association of German Criminal Officers (BDK) has spoken out in favour of ending the ban on cannabis and has called for the decriminalization of all use of the drug.

"The prohibition of cannabis has historically been seen as arbitrary and has not yet been implemented in an intelligent and effective manner,” the head of BDK, André Schulz, told Bild newspaper on Monday.

“In the history of mankind there has never been a society without the use of drugs; this is something that has to be accepted,” he added.

“My prediction is cannabis will not be banned for long in Germany.‎”

The BDK therefore advocates a "complete decriminalization of cannabis use," Schulz said, adding that the current legal system is stigmatizing people and promoting criminal careers.

A German court has denied a medical cannabis user's appeal to have his firearms license reinstated, creating a precedent that will most likely block German MMJ users from owning guns. The ruling was handed down in the case of a hunter from Miesbach whose hunting and firearms licenses were revoked due to his legal use of medical cannabis. In a statement, authorities said that they made this decision based on an expert opinion stating that the mental well-being of a cannabis user cannot be guaranteed.

The Aurora, Cannimed mega-merger wasn’t the only deal in the marijuana space this past week. Here’s a few you may have missed.

Last week’s weed headlines were dominated by the billion-dollar deal between Aurora Cannabis Inc. and Cannimed Therapeutics Inc., whose management teams came together after months of bickering to lay the groundwork for marijuana’s first mega-merger.

As the drama unfolded, plenty of other deals were getting done across the industry. Here’s a few you may have missed:

Nesting with Nestle

This isn’t Cheech and Chong’s weed — Germany’s medical marijuana users are people tired of popping powerful pills to ease pain. Facing a cannabis import crisis, the country is now starting to grow its own.

Chronically and terminally ill patients in Germany can’t get enough cannabis. Demand for medical marijuana has far outstripped supply since becoming legally available early last year to patients suffering from debilitating pain.

Nuuvera Deutschland has broken ground on a new facility in Germany for storage and packaging of medical cannabis products.

Located in Bad Bramstedt, in northern Germany, the 11,300ft² facility features security and related technology and will be built in compliance with the most stringent requirements for the storage of controlled substances in Germany and the EU.

Planned to be built in two phases, the storage and packaging facility will help meet the increasing demand for medical cannabis products.

Nuuvera CEO Lorne Abony said that the new facility will help the company in continuing to develop into a major supplier of medical cannabis products to German consumers.