Albania Government Approves Medical Cannabis Cultivation
As medical cannabis policy and regulatory reform continues to sweep across the European continent, the latest country to witness modernization approval by lawmakers is Albania, where the nation’s government reportedly approved licenses for a significant amount of medical cannabis and industrial hemp cultivation.
“The Albanian government has approved the cultivation of cannabis for medical and industrial purposes, issuing licenses covering 29,000 hectares of land stretching from the north to the south of the country — a move hailed by officials as a boost to the economy but sharply criticized by the opposition and experts as a potential gateway to state capture by organized crime.” reported Tirana Times in its local coverage.
“While the official legal cap for cultivation remains 200 hectares, the government’s preliminary license allocations suggest a far greater scope — one that opposition figures claim could result in the planting of over 1.4 billion cannabis plants.” the outlet also reported.
According to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), Albania is “the largest outdoor producer of cannabis in the region and there has recently been an increase in indoor cannabis cultivation.”
“In Albania, following a peak in 2017 when over 78 tonnes of herbal cannabis were seized, a steep downward trend was noted, with only 4.3 tonnes seized in 2020 and, according to preliminary data, approximately 3.6 tonnes in 2021.” EMCDDA also reported.
The emerging legal cannabis and hemp industries allow Albania’s farmers to cultivate their crops legally and to have their harvests provided to domestic and international medical patients rather than the unregulated market. However, that opportunity is only as good as the laws and regulations that are implemented in the Balkan country.
At the recent International Cannabis Business Conference in Berlin, leading international cannabis industry economist Beau Whitney, founder of Whitney Economics, estimated that the potential global medical and adult-use cannabis market is roughly $237.8 billion. Mr. Whitney estimated that the value of the global industrial hemp industry could be $456.2 billion.