The volume of medical cannabis market in Asia may exceed $ 5.8 billion by 2024.
In the case of appropriate regulatory support, China and Japan will become Asia's largest markets in value terms, which may account for up to 75% of the total market volume, according to preliminary estimates, of about $ 5.8 billion. By 2027, this figure may increase to four. times.
At a time when processes in Europe and America are rapidly taking place aimed at legalizing the use of cannabis for medical purposes, Asian countries remain quite conservative in their views on this issue. Despite this, the potential of the medical cannabis market in Asia is huge and can grow much faster than on other continents. On the one hand, Asian investors and hemp startups are closely following the development of relevant legislation in Europe and North America, on the other hand, companies from economically developed countries specializing in the legal cultivation of psychoactive cannabis are studying the possibilities of working in the Asian market.
The use of cannabis for medical purposes in the territory of Asian countries was legal and was used as traditional medicine for thousands of years and only after the adoption of the “Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs” the policy of government officials in Asia underwent a dramatic change and almost equated the plant to prohibited substances. At the moment, except for Israel, only Thailand, Lebanon and Georgia are actively moving towards legalizing the possibility of using cannabis for medical purposes, and Singapore is considering the possibility of making appropriate changes to the existing legal framework.
The ability to use medical cannabis
It can be argued that China in the medium term at the legislative level legalizes the use of cannabis for medical purposes. However, in the case of appropriate regulatory support of this issue in China and Japan, these countries could become the largest markets in terms of value in Asia, which can account for up to 75% of the total market volume according to preliminary estimates of about $ 5.8 billion By 2027, this figure could quadruple.
Despite the fact that it is illegal to work with psychoactive hemp in China, the country is the world's largest producer of technical hemp for such purposes as the production of twisted goods and fabrics. According to the data provided by Chinese official structures, in 2017, various technical hemp products worth $ 1.1 billion were produced in the country.
Analysts of the Asian hemp market claim that in China, the current legislation does not distinguish between medical and recreational cannabis. In addition, at the moment there is no indication that this situation may change in the next 5-10 years despite the intentions to make relevant changes in the legislation of neighboring countries of the Asia-Pacific region. The main bet in this matter can be made on the fact that Chinese cannabis companies carefully study the global trends in the market of medical cannabis and most likely their representatives will make the necessary efforts to lobby for the possibility of appropriate changes to the current legislation. Despite the fact that the possibilities of Hong Kong and Macao will develop in the same direction as the rest of mainland China, Hong Kong will most likely be chosen as a testing ground for the policy of using cannabis for medical purposes. In this matter, the extremely widespread links of the above-mentioned special administrative region with countries actively developing this area of cannabis production on all continents, as well as infrastructure development, availability of financial resources and consumer demand necessary in such cases, have an effect.