Italy Medical Cannabis Sales Rise Almost 50% In 2019

📷 Civil Liberties Union for Europe

Similar to the dynamic seen in many U.S. states and Canadian provinces, Italy bought significantly more cannabis in 2019 than in the previous year. Citing official government statistics, Marijuana Business Daily reported that the volume of cannabis sold in the country rose almost 50%.

All told, Italians purchased 861 kilos of medical cannabis during the year, well up from the 578 kilos of 2018. Italy is one of the few European countries that has legalized the medical form of the drug; cannabis us without medical prescription remains illegal.

That amount makes Italy the No. 2 consumer of licensed medical cannabis in Europe, second only to Germany. The latter's government recently admitted that it did not know how much product its citizens purchased in 2019, although one reliable number -- the 6,714 kilos it important during the year -- shows it's clearly the leader.

Both Italy and Germany legalised medical cannabis in the 2010s. Italy did so in 2013, and Germany turned on the green light in 2017.

In Italy, most cannabis sold is exported by the Dutch Office of Medical Cannabis and grown by that country's only commercial cultivator, Bedrocan. A small amount of Italian cannabis is grown domestically by an arm of the Ministry of Defense.

Source: The Motley Fool