The market for medical cannabis and legal products made from cannabis has great challenges to be overcome in the world and especially in Brazil, but also implies great business opportunities especially in the medical cannabis market.
The legalization of cannabis has been taking place in several countries around the world. In countries like Canada, Uruguay, South Africa, Holland, Italy, Portugal and several states in the USA, cannabis is already legalized even for recreational use. It is estimated that by the year 2030, several other countries in Europe, South America, Asia, Australia and other states of the USA will be also regulated in their medical use, including legalized recreational use. Let's start with the challenges encountered in the medical cannabis market around the world and also in Brazil.
· Regulations - an obstacle are constant changes in regulations since it is a market that has been legalized recently in most countries in the world;
· Taxes - it is not yet clear how this will be dealt with in countries where medical cannabis is not regulated, whether normal rates will be followed as medication;
· Customs - until a few years ago, cannabis and its derivatives were seen only as drugs and therefore there is a stigma in much of society regarding the legalization of cannabis-based products;
· Governments - this is an important obstacle for the industry, since countries with governments linked to more conservative sections of society face greater resistance to the legalization and registration of medicines and, mainly, to other products such as food and cosmetics for example;
· Stigma from the medical community - a barrier created in much of the medical community in prescribing cannabis-based drugs is also seen in many parts of the world.
Even though it can be quite challenging in many countries, including Brazil, the opportunities for this market are very interesting:
· The medical cannabis market is expected to reach approximately USD 73.6 Bi by 2027 (As already mentioned in our previous article https://bit.ly/3b8x8Pi).
· In markets where medical cannabis has already been regulated, the stigma of the medical profession and society has been reduced.
· In these countries, greater investments from companies and researchers were attracted to develop more complex studies related to the therapeutic effects and development of new types of products.
· In addition to the medical cannabis market, other markets around cannabis have grown significantly in the world, such as the markets for beverages, tobacco, beauty and personal care products, health products (such as dietary supplements, topical painkillers and sleep) and several other products in Brazil.
· The treatment may reach up to 3.4 million people and 4.7 billion reais in the first 3 years after the market is regularized.
· More optimistic estimates suggest that in Brazil the market could reach the mark of R $ 45 billion in 10 years.
· It is estimated that investments will be generated in Brazil that may exceed R $ 440 million. This market is a bet and every bet contains some risk, but there is no return without investment!