At an undisclosed site in Germany's Bavaria state, pharmaceutical CEO Philip Schetter opens a 75-centimetre (30-inch) thick steel door that secures his wares: vast amounts of cannabis.
"Better safe than sorry," he says during a visit to the compound run by Cantourage, a producer and distributor of cannabis-based medicinal products.
Marijuana has been partially legalised in Germany, but the firm fears its wares from as far as Jamaica, Uganda and New Zealand could make it an attractive target for criminals.
"We are committed to the highest safety standards -- for our employees as well as for our products," Schetter told AFP.
Inside the facility, staff wearing surgical gowns, hairnets and face masks were busy using small scissors to cut up dried cannabis flowers.
The brownish-green buds are used to relieve chronic pain and sleep disorders, treat certain forms of epilepsy and offer support for cancer, HIV and palliative care patients.
Medical cannabis has been a boon for the Berlin-based company whose website slogan says "we love cannabis" and whose Frankfurt Stock Exchange ticker symbol is "HIGH".
Last year it booked revenue of 51.4 million euros, a 118 percent increase on 2023.
The company with 70 staff says it allows producers to enter the European medical cannabis market by processing and distributing their dried flowers and extracts.
Competitors include the Netherlands' Bedrocan and Canada's Aurora, which also grows cannabis.
In Germany, the pungent green plant has been available with a prescription since 2017.
One benefit of laboratory-tested and certified medical cannabis is clarity about its origin, processing path and active ingredient content, said Schetter.
"If I went to the black market, the choice would be rather limited and I would be given anything, without knowing what it contains," he said. "And often the product is contaminated. You may even doubt that it is cannabis."
- 'Frosted Cookies' -
Cantourage markets its medicines in eye-catching ways, naming them after their cannabis strains.
Among its products are "Frosted Cookies", "Lemon Berry Candy" and "Chemdawg", complete with colourful stickers that help build brand loyalty even if they do not appear on the packaging.
"Classical pharma firms do classical pharma marketing," Schetter said. "We're just young and creative," he added, noting that the boundaries between recreational and medicinal drugs are sometimes "blurred".