A herd of hungry sheep walked into a greenhouse in the Greek countryside containing 600 pounds of medical cannabis. That sounds like the beginning of a joke, but it’s an accurate description of what took place recently in the European country. What happened next is, well, exactly what you might imagine.

The herd of sheep ate every bit of the medical cannabis stash, according to multiple reports. Why? Because in the aftermath of Hurricane Daniel, which flooded parts of the plain near Thessaly, Greece, where the sheep live, it’s been hard for sheep to find fresh grass to eat. That limited supply of their usual dinner led them to try cannabis, instead.

They wandered into a greenhouse containing cannabis near the town of Almyros. The shepherd figured it out only after the fact, according to the Greek Reporter. The owner of the greenhouse found out even later.

“I don’t know if it’s for laughing or crying,” he said, according to the Greek Reporter. “We had the heatwave, and we lost a lot of production. We had the floods, we lost almost everything. And now this…The herd entered the greenhouse and ate what was left. I don’t know what to say, honestly.”

Sheep Eat Cannabis, Exhibit Strange Behavior

After eating the cannabis, the sheep began to engage in some very un-sheep-like behavior, according to witnesses. One reported that the sheep were “jumping higher than goats, which never happens.”

As with dogs, it’s not recommended to give cannabis to small animals without a veterinarian’s input. Fortunately, with the sheep in Greece, no one reported any bad outcomes in the long run, other than the excellent jumping skills.

The hungry sheep herd is just one example of how bad things have gotten in the area, which Hurricane Daniel swept through in early September. The flooding has caused hardship to both people and businesses, as well as the economy. And, it turns out, sheep.

Medical Cannabis Provides Economic Boon to Greece

The medical marijuana greenhouse is one of many that have started since Greece approved medical marijuana in 2017. The cannabis industry has been an economic winner in Greece, thanks to an influx of investments into the industry that has created more jobs for an economy that has struggled for some time.  Greek leaders have put a regulatory framework in place for the country’s cannabis industry to support its growth.

In 2023, the first medicinal cannabis production plant opened in Greece at Examilia, near Corinth. Tikun Europe, a subsidiary of Israel-based Tikun Olam, invested in the plant. At the time, according to the Greek Reporter, the director of the Greek Development and Investments agency said that cannabis is a product that Greece hopes it can export throughout Europe because the factory can export to all major European countries.

Time will tell if that is the case. In the meantime, the hope is the country will recover enough from the hurricane so that herds of Greek sheep don’t feel the need to go into any more medical cannabis warehouses for a 600-pound meal.