International cannabis market growth to drive reform

Significance

Cannabis pharmaceuticals have experienced dramatic growth in recent years as regulatory approvals have increased. The sector’s expansion deepens contradictions within the international system of illicit narcotics control, and in national laws that limit medical access and criminalise ‘recreational’ cannabis use.

Impacts

• Pressure on national governments and the international control system to address legal and regulatory contradictions will increase.
• Cannabis-cultivating states in the developing world, excluded from European and US supply and innovation chains, will agitate for reform.
• The pharmaceutical cannabis ‘green rush’ and mergers and acquisitions in the legal recreational sector will fuel ‘corporatisation’ fears.