The cannabis market in the United States has skyrocketed over the past few years as medical (and even recreational) marijuana has found its place in many states, despite being federally illegal. In fact, one estimate suggests that by the year 2025, the legal cannabis market in the US will surpass the $146 billion mark.
The European Union though, on the other hand, has struggled with the complex and widely diverse rules and regulations that vary from country to country. However, the scenario is soon going to change, suggests a report by analytics market and research firm- Brightfield Group.
According to the report, the European CBD market, which looks all set to be worth at least $146 million by the end of this year, is projected to be at $1.7 billion by 2023. Furthermore, the entire cannabis market in general – which consists of all the cannabis products, including the recreational ones – may grow from $318 million in 2018 to nearly $8 billion by 2023.
In the European Union, the use of CBD and marijuana is largely limited to tobacco products as its consumption in ingestible forms – via edibles, capsules and tinctures – is banned. However, that may not be the case soon, as the European Food Safety Agency has proposed an amendment, which will allow CBD in ingestible products, most probably by the end of this year.
The legal cannabis market is also looking promising, courtesy of the recommendation by WHO to reschedule cannabis.
The European Parliament voted last month to increase EU nations’ access to medical cannabis, and conduct more research on its public health effects.
Despite all the above-mentioned ‘promising’ figures, the managing director for Brightfield Group, Bethany Gomez, believes that investors should enter the CBD market with caution. “CBD is currently proliferating through a patchwork of widely different regulations throughout Europe which has made it a very strange and piecemeal market,” added Gomez.
