The Medicinal Cannabis (R)evolution

13

3.0 THE POTENTIAL GLOBAL DEMAND FOR CANNABIS

Estimating the prospective demand for medicinal cannabis is a challenging endeavour. This challenge stems in part from the fact that many of the estimates previously identified were based on demand for both recreational and medicinal cannabis, or the potential demand in a fully liberalized market. Given the dynamic nature of the global industry, evidenced by legalization trends across countries, consumer demand is likely to be affected by changing markets which may affect price, supply, quality and accessibility. The legal and regulatory impediments are also likely to impact the demand for the export of cannabis by ECCU member countries. Accordingly, it is important that estimates included in this report be treated with a certain degree of caution. An assessment of the growth of the industry will depend on the demand for the product as well as the global financial and regulatory environment. Given the weak internal demand previously identified, this section highlights the viability of the medicinal cannabis industry in the ECCU by considering estimates in global demand. At the current juncture, it is expected that global demand for cannabis is likely to stem from continued legislative changes by countries worldwide. As noted above, over 30 countries have legalised the medicinal and therapeutic use of cannabis, and more than 30 US states have done so. It is expected that several more countries are likely to do so in the coming years. With such promising developments, medicinal cannabis is estimated to be a significant potential market in coming years.