Prohibition Partners’ new report shows that global sales of CBD, medical and adult-use cannabis amounted to US$44.2 billion in 2022, projecting that the market could reach US$100.4 billion by 2026.
The Global Cannabis Report: 3rd Edition highlights that the financial climate for cannabis operators remains tough due to impacts from the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war slowing the flow of capital to the industry.
Despite this, the acceleration of cannabis liberalisation across the globe for both medical and adult use will see cannabis markets continuing on a growth trajectory in the coming years.
Read more: Germany recreational cannabis winners and losers
Canada and Uruguay will soon be joined by the likes of Mexico, Costa Rica and Colombian, and European countries such as Germany, Switzerland and the Czech Republic, among others, in legalising the sale of adult-use cannabis.
Additionally, the report states that cannabis supply chains across the globe are beginning to diversify away from Canada and the Netherlands, with Israel, Germany and Australia now being main importing markets.
Cannabis in the UK and Europe
According to the report, Europe’s cannabis market will see a growth of more than 500% by 2026 as more countries on the continent begin to introduce progressive cannabis legislation.
The report highlights that the majority of European now citizens live in a country with some access to medical cannabis, having an estimated 342,000 legal cannabis patients. However, the report highlights that: “The reality remains that most find it impossible to reach, either because of bureaucratic or economic hurdles.”
European developments in medical cannabis this year saw Spain legalise its magistral use for select conditions through the country’s public health system, and Ukraine announce it was considering legalising cannabis for medical purposes “as part of the country’s efforts to treat trauma as a result of the war”.
Read more: Ukraine could legalise cannabis in light of impact of Russian war
The report cites Germany and the UK as key European medical cannabis markets, with sales of expected to account for 67% of the total market share by 2026.
While medical cannabis continues to see positive progress, adult-use cannabis has also seen major developments this year.
Switzerland confirmed that it would be carrying out Europe’s first adult-use cannabis pilot, which the country has now confirmed will begin in January 2023. Copenhagen has also suggested to trial a five-year pilot of recreational cannabis – with both countries citing the desire to eliminate the blackmarket as a motivation for the pilot programmes.
Most notably, whilst Malta and Denmark introduced the decriminalisation of cannabis for personal use, Germany confirmed its plans to implement a legal, regulated adult-use market.
The report notes, however, that plans across Europe to introduce such legislation will not have an impact on medical sales.
Co-founder of Prohibition Partners, Stephen Murphy, commented: “The progress being made in the medical cannabis sectors in Germany and the UK is really astonishing. Consider that a few years ago almost no medical cannabis was being prescribed in Germany and now we have in the region of 380k prescriptions being written each year on the public register with perhaps the same again being prescribed privately.
“It should be borne in mind that this progress is not yet cemented, as we have seen with the proposals recently for limiting patient access e.g. through only allowing specialist doctors to prescribe. To ensure that the hard won-progress is not lost, we need to be sure the regulators and legislators in Germany hear the voices of patients who are demanding improvements in access to continue rather than regress.
“Progress is being made at a similarly high rate in the UK, though they are a few years behind the European leaders. Data from the UK government suggests year-on-year growth of almost 800% from 2020 to 202, with data for 2022 suggesting further huge growth.
“This is due to the combined work of all the clinics across the UK which are simplifying patient access in what is still a very bureaucratic system. It is also due to the brave work of individual patient advocates like Hannah Deacon but also the groups like PLEA that represent the voices of patients across the country.
“Finally there are groups like Project Twenty21 who are subsidising patient access and producing evidence to further convince the government to open up access to treatment across the country.”
CBD in Europe
CBD has an official, centralised route towards legality in the EU, says the report.
Novel Food processes are ongoing, with the European Commission having listed 12 valid applications for plant-derived CBD as Novel Foods, however, this process has been paused while the European Food Safety Authority requests more toxicological information from applicants
In the UK, a list of Novel Food applications deemed to be attached to sufficient toxicology data was published this year.
However, the report emphasises that the European CBD market remains fragmented, noting that if regulations such as the Novel Foods Act are enforced “this could trigger the closure of many operations and the beginning of a long-predicted consolidation.”
The report states: “The proliferation of CBD brands continues in Europe, with certain brands and CBD retailers becoming established in the more developed national CBD markets (e.g. the UK, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands), while the earlier stage markets (e.g. France, Spain, Portugal, Ireland) still have many independent operators, with small CBD-focused stores selling own-brand products, or smaller (often local) brands.”
It goes on to highlight that the UK currently remains the only market where CBD products are stocked by multiple mainstream non-CBD-focused high street retailers.
To read the full report please visit: https://prohibitionpartners.com/reports/the-global-cannabis-report-edition-3/
