Exclusive data obtained by Prohibition Partners from the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) shows a 425% increase in dispensations of unlicensed medical cannabis products in England in 2021.
This swift development means the UK market could constitute about a quarter of the European medical cannabis market by 2026, or 544 million.
In Germany, the largest medical cannabis market in Europe, the market continued to grow steadily in 2021, with a 43% increase in sales of medical cannabis to pharmacies. Over 100 types of medical cannabis flowers are now also available to patients in Germany.
As of March 2022, 15 countries in Europe allow for the commercial production of medical cannabis.
Further progressive legislation, liberalization, and development of a mainstreaming cannabis industry in Europe over the next five years will combine to continually improve patient access to medical cannabis, and drive exponential growth of the market.
The story which is drawing the most international attention, and attracting investors from North America, is the upcoming liberalization of adult-use cannabis in Europe.
The ruling coalition of Germany has promised full legalization and commercialization of adult-use (recreational) cannabis in this legislative term, and legal sales of adult-use cannabis are set to start in Switzerland by the end of 2022, followed by those in the Netherlands in Q3 2023.
Prohibition Partners predicts that sales of adult-use cannabis in Europe could reach 1.5 billion by 2026, but this forecast is dependent on swift progress and full implementation of adult-use legalization in Germany.
The liberalization of adult-use cannabis in Europe could release millions of people from unnecessary criminalization, and provide a much-needed economic boost as we emerge from the COVID pandemic. The impending legalization of adult-use cannabis in Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland offers the first glance of this socioeconomic opportunity.
Source: Medindia
