The rising demand for medical cannabis in Europe, driven primarily by maturing markets such as Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, has opened the door to new sources for medical cannabis across the continent.
The Dutch government, through its sole cultivation contractor Bedrocan, has recently supplied the majority of medical cannabis for European access schemes, but the landscape is getting more and more diversified. Since 2016, Canadian LPs have been able to ship product to Europe, and in 2019 Tilray’s facility in Portugal came online, followed by numerous other smaller operators.
In the last year, countries in Latin America and Oceania have begun supplying Europe with medical cannabis, and a few African nations may follow suit. However, the share of cannabis-based medicines being produced in Europe is also on the rise. Portuguese and Spanish growing facilities have already gone commercial, while Germany, Denmark and Greece are all expected to commence sales in the coming months. The Netherlands and the Czech Republic are planning an expansion of their growing capabilities, and countries like Israel, Luxembourg, Malta and North Macedonia are also looking to develop cultivation capacity for exportation over the next two to three years.
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