Arcuri ConsultoriaCannabis Ontology
Cannabis Ontology
Arcuri Consultoria

The Cannabis
Ontology

Defined concepts
Meaningful relations

Explore the connections

Concepts, relations
and conditions

An organization carries out an activity. That activity has a purpose and depends on an authorization, which applies under certain conditions. The ontology connects these concepts and makes the meaning of each relation explicit.

Organization
CultivationActivity
PurposeResearch
Authorization
Conditions
carries outdepends onhas purposeapplies under
One name for each thing

Controlled vocabulary

One person writes “AFE”, another “Operating Authorization”, another “company authorization”. To a search or an AI system, these are three different things. Without agreement on names, people and machines are not talking about the same thing.

A controlled vocabulary solves this. Each concept gets a preferred name, the synonyms that lead to it, a definition with its source and a unique identifier. It is the foundation of the ontology: everything that comes after builds on these concepts.

  • “AFE”
  • “Operating Authorization”
  • “company authorization”
Preferred name
Company Operating Authorization
Synonym
AFE
Definition
Act within the competence of the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa) authorizing companies or establishments, institutions and bodies to operate, granted upon compliance with the technical and administrative requirements set out in this Resolution.
Source
RDC No. 16/2014
Identifier
odc:AutorizacaoFuncionamentoEmpresa

Likewise, “AE” leads to Special Authorization (Autorização Especial) and “CBD” to Cannabidiol.

In the ontology
odc:AutorizacaoFuncionamentoEmpresa
    a owl:Class ;
    rdfs:label "Autorização de Funcionamento de Empresa"@pt-BR ;
    # …
    skos:altLabel "AFE"@pt-BR ;
    skos:definition "Ato de competência da Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária, contendo autorização para o funcionamento de empresas ou estabelecimentos, instituições e órgãos, concedido mediante o cumprimento dos requisitos técnicos e administrativos constantes desta Resolução."@pt-BR ;
    # …
ExampleWho is who in the regulations

Establishment types

Brazilian regulations speak of pharmacies, drugstores, herbal shops, carriers, importers. To compare regulations, you need to know which types exist and where each one is defined.

In the ontology, establishment types are grouped in classification schemes, one for each regulation. “Pharmacy” is a type; an actual pharmacy, with a CNPJ (company registration number) and an address, is data that builds on that type.

Law No. 5,991/1973

  • Pharmacy
  • Drugstore
  • Herbal shop
  • Medicine outlet
  • Mobile medicine unit
  • Medicine dispensary

Ordinances (Portarias) No. 344/1998 and No. 6/1999

  • Pharmaceutical, veterinary and pharmochemical industries
  • Public, private and veterinary pharmacies
  • Importers and distributors of medicines and substances
  • Planting, cultivation and harvesting of controlled plants
  • Teaching and research establishments
  • Carriers of substances and medicines

Pharmacy appears in both schemes, with the role each regulation gives it.

In the ontology
odc:Farmacia
    a owl:NamedIndividual, cmns-cls:Classifier ;
    cmns-dsg:isDefinedIn odc:EsquemaTipoEstabelecimentoLei5991 ;
    skos:prefLabel "Farmácia"@pt-BR ;
    skos:definition "Tipo de estabelecimento de manipulação de fórmulas magistrais e oficinais, de comércio de drogas, medicamentos, insumos farmacêuticos e correlatos e de dispensação e atendimento privativo de unidade hospitalar ou equivalente."@pt-BR ;
    rdfs:isDefinedBy <https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/l5991.htm#art4x> .
From general to specific

Taxonomy

A list does not show that manufacturing a medicine is a form of manufacturing a product subject to health surveillance. Without that hierarchy, a regulation written for the general case does not reach the specific one.

A taxonomy organizes concepts into a tree. Each child is “a kind of” its parent, and what holds for the parent holds for the child. That way, a requirement on activities with products reaches the manufacture of medicines.

Activity with a product subject to health surveillance
  • Extraction
  • Production
  • Manufacturing
    • Medicine manufacturinga kind of manufacturing? yes
  • Transformation
  • Synthesis
  • Purification
  • Fractioning
  • Packaging
  • Repackaging
  • Import
  • Export
  • Storage
  • Dispatch
  • Distribution
  • Transport
  • Industrialization

In SKOS, the same idea is written with “broader”: Cannabis propagation material has Cannabis plant material as its broader concept.

In the ontology
odc:FabricacaoMedicamento
    a owl:Class ;
    rdfs:label "Fabricação de medicamento"@pt-BR ;
    rdfs:subClassOf odc:FabricacaoProdutoVigilanciaSanitaria, fibo-occ:OccurrenceKind ;
    # …
Relatives that are not parent and child

Thesaurus

Synthetic cannabidiol is a kind of cannabidiol. But it is also linked to the control lists of Ordinance No. 344/1998, which are not its “parents”. And it needs a note that sets out its scope. A tree cannot say this.

A thesaurus adds three kinds of link to the tree: equivalence (preferred name and synonyms), hierarchy (broader and narrower) and association (related concepts). Scope notes say what the concept covers. The thesaurus organizes meaning, but does not yet impose rules.

BroaderCannabidiol synonym: CBD
RelatedControl under List C1 (Ordinance No. 344/1998)
Synthetic cannabidiol
RelatedControl under List E (Ordinance No. 344/1998)
Scope noteThe classification was already part of Ordinance SVS/MS No. 344/1998 and was republished in the annex of Update No. 100; it is not an inclusion created by RDC No. 1,023/2026.
In the ontology
odc:CanabidiolSintetico
    a owl:NamedIndividual, cmns-cls:Classifier ;
    # …
    skos:broader odc:Canabidiol ;
    # …
    skos:related odc:Canabidiol,
        odc:ControleListaC1Portaria344Atualizacao100,
        odc:ControleListaEPortaria344Atualizacao100 ;
    skos:prefLabel "Canabidiol sintético"@pt-BR ;
    # …
    skos:scopeNote "O enquadramento já integrava a Portaria SVS/MS nº 344/1998 e foi republicado no anexo da Atualização nº 100; não constitui inclusão criada pela RDC nº 1.023/2026."@pt-BR ;
    # …
Rules a machine applies

Ontology in OWL

Knowing that two concepts are related is not enough for a system to apply the regulation. It has to be told what a health license requires, who issues it and that it is not the same as other documents.

Written in OWL, the ontology turns these requirements into logical rules. A reasoner uses these rules to infer facts, such as requirements inherited down the tree, and to point out contradictions, such as the same document declared both an AFE and a health license.

Every establishment health license

  • is issued byat least onelocal health authority
  • is conferred onat least oneestablishment subject to health surveillance
  • involvesexactly oneestablishment subject to health surveillance

No document is two of these at the same time:

  • Company Operating Authorization
  • Special Authorization
  • Establishment health license
  • Product health registration
In the ontology: the requirements
odc:LicencaSanitariaEstabelecimento
    a owl:Class ;
    rdfs:label "Licença sanitária de estabelecimento"@pt-BR ;
    rdfs:subClassOf fibo-fbc-fct-rga:GovernmentIssuedLicense,
        [
            a owl:Restriction ;
            owl:onProperty fibo-fnd-rel-rel:isIssuedBy ;
            owl:someValuesFrom odc:AutoridadeSanitariaLocal
        ],
        [
            a owl:Restriction ;
            owl:onProperty fibo-fnd-law-lcap:isConferredOn ;
            owl:someValuesFrom odc:EstabelecimentoSujeitoVigilanciaSanitaria
        ],
        [
            a owl:Restriction ;
            owl:onProperty fibo-fnd-rel-rel:involves ;
            owl:onClass odc:EstabelecimentoSujeitoVigilanciaSanitaria ;
            owl:qualifiedCardinality "1"^^xsd:nonNegativeInteger
        ],
        # …
In the ontology: distinct documents
[] a owl:AllDisjointClasses ;
    owl:members (
        odc:AutorizacaoFuncionamentoEmpresa
        odc:AutorizacaoEspecial
        odc:LicencaSanitariaEstabelecimento
        odc:RegistroSanitarioProduto
    ) .
Establishments and regulations, connected

Connected regulations

An establishment’s obligations come from different regulations. Reading one regulation at a time, you miss the whole picture: the pharmacy appears in Law No. 5,991/1973 and also in Ordinance No. 344/1998, with different requirements.

In the ontology, each obligation points to the regulation that imposes it and to the concepts it involves. Concepts connect across regulations. Choose a regulation to see its obligations.

Obligation to keep a responsible pharmacist on duty in pharmacies and drugstoresResponsible technician during operationObligation to license retail and dispensing establishmentsEstablishment licenseObligation to obtain Special Authorization and a license for wholesalers and compounding pharmaciesAE and license for compounding pharmacyObligation for the carrier to be legally registered and to hold Special Authorization for exclusive transportCarrier with AEPermission for an individual to import for personal useImport by the patientObligation to restrict analysis to a qualified laboratoryAnalysis in a qualified laboratoryObligation to obtain Special Authorization for research cultivation, per establishmentAE for research cultivationLaw No. 5,991/1973Ordinance No. 344/1998RDC No. 660/2022RDC No. 1,039/2026RDC No. 1,012/2026PharmacyDrugstoreResponsible technicianEstablishmentHealth licenseLocal health authoritySpecial AuthorizationCarrier (category)Importing patientCannabis-derived productAnalytical laboratoryReblasCultivationResearch-only purpose
  • Law No. 5,991/1973
    • Responsible technician during operation: Pharmacy, Drugstore, Responsible technician
    • Establishment license: Establishment subject to health surveillance, Establishment health license, Local health authority
  • Ordinance SVS/MS No. 344/1998
    • AE and license for compounding pharmacy: Pharmacy, Special Authorization, Establishment health license
    • Carrier with AE: Carriers of substances and medicines, Special Authorization
  • RDC No. 660/2022
    • Import by the patient: Importing patient, Cannabis-derived product
  • RDC No. 1,039/2026
    • Analysis in a qualified laboratory: Analytical laboratory, Brazilian Network of Health Analytical Laboratories
  • RDC No. 1,012/2026
    • AE for research cultivation: Establishment subject to health surveillance, Special Authorization, Cultivation, Research-only purpose

In gold, the concepts involved in obligations from more than one regulation.

In the ontology: one of the obligations of Law No. 5,991/1973
odc:ObrigacaoManterAssistenciaTecnicaFarmaciaDrogariaLei5991
    a owl:NamedIndividual, fibo-fnd-law-lcap:LegalObligation ;
    fibo-fnd-rel-rel:isMandatedBy odc:Lei5991_1973 ;
    fibo-fnd-rel-rel:involves odc:Farmacia,
        odc:Drogaria,
        odc:ResponsavelTecnico ;
    # …
    skos:prefLabel "Obrigação de manter assistência técnica em farmácia e drogaria"@pt-BR ;
    # …
How the ontology grows

Expansion

Regulations change: one resolution replaces another, a revocation comes later, a new regulation creates concepts. An ontology that stands still grows old and starts giving wrong answers.

Growing under control means recording the new regulation, reusing the concepts that already exist, linking each new obligation to its source and noting what was replaced or revoked. Each change is checked and gets a new version, and the earlier layers remain.

  1. RDC No. 327/2019replaced byRDC No. 1,015/2026
  2. RDC No. 928/2024revoked byRDC No. 1,039/2026

Each layer builds on the one before, and all of them remain.

Controlled vocabularyTaxonomyThesaurusOntology

OMG Commons, FIBO and PROV-O are reused external vocabularies.

In the ontology
odc:DocumentoRDC1015_2026
    a owl:NamedIndividual, cmns-doc:LegalDocument ;
    # …
    dcterms:identifier "RDC nº 1.015/2026" ;
    # …
    dcterms:replaces <https://anvisalegis.datalegis.net/action/ActionDatalegis.php?acao=abrirTextoAto&numeroAto=00000327&tipo=RDC&valorAno=2019> ;
    # …

<https://arcuriconsultoria.com.br/ontologia/cannabis>
    a owl:Ontology ;
    # …
    owl:versionIRI <https://arcuriconsultoria.com.br/ontologia/cannabis/2026-09-04/0.19.32> ;
    owl:versionInfo "0.19.32" .

From question
to source

An explicit base where people and agents can query knowledge, check relations and follow changes.

For AI agents, querying concepts and relations that are already defined reduces the need to interpret the same texts over and over.

Query

Follow relations to find the activities, prerequisites and documents behind a requirement.

Verify

Examine the consistency of the knowledge. Formalized definitions and rules help identify contradictions.

Update

Find what needs review when a source changes, keeping the link to the concepts and their conditions.

See the relations
in a query

See it in practice