Telemedicine technology is driving rapid expansion of medical cannabis markets across Europe, according to Prohibition Partners’ upcoming Global Cannabis Report: 5th Edition.
The dramatic expansion of access to medical cannabis in key European markets thanks to regulatory reform is also fuelling growing competition in supply chains.
Key to this growth is Germany, which removed cannabis from the list of narcotic substances earlier this year, effectively ‘reshaping’ what was already the region’s largest cannabis market.
Medical use is also expanding rapidly in the key markets like the UK and Poland, with the latter also seeing a large expansion in medical sales, with all three supported by the rapid expansion of telemedicine clinics.
Meanwhile, as the second part of Germany’s cannabis reform project hangs in the balance, neighbouring states like the Netherlands and Switzerland continue to progress in the development of adult-use trials and experimental systems, though these are still in the early stages.
While Greece represents Europe’s newest medical market, regulatory stagnation and political turbulence have seen little change in Denmark, Italy, France and Spain, despite them showing promising signs towards the end of 2023.
According to the report, which is due to be published in December, the European market is also being significantly influenced by a growing influx of international operators.
In Canada, competition has intensified in the domestic adult-use market, with sales continuing to fluctuate but not reaching previous highs, leading many operators to venture out into international markets, primarily the European medical market.
In LATAM, producers are making strides in medical exports to Australia and Europe. Colombia in particular is seeing success as a genetics hub, and is exporting ever larger volumes of cannabis abroad.
Elsewhere, domestic production of medical cannabis has ramped up in New Zealand and Australia, with both countries also focusing on international markets.
New Zealand in particular has seen regulatory developments that eliminate previous bottlenecks associated with quality standards for medical exports, thereby providing New Zealand with a greater opportunity in international markets.
