The Albanian Parliament has voted in favor of a bill that allow the controlled cultivation, … [+]
Albania has become the latest European country to legalize medical cannabis and industrial hemp with the hope of boosting tax revenue.
Last week, the Albanian Parliament voted 69-23 in favor of a bill that allow the controlled cultivation, production, and export of medical cannabis, along with industrial hemp.
The Albanian government, led by socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama, announced the legalization of medical cannabis in June of last year.
The approved legislation will create a National Cannabis Control Agency, which will operate under the authority of the health minister. The agency’s primary mission will be to oversee, regulate, and inspect the cultivation and processing of the cannabis plant, as well as the production of its by-products for medical and industrial use. Additionally, the agency will be responsible for monitoring the implementation of this law.
Licenses will be granted through a Licensing Commission established by the agency for various activities, including the import of seeds or seedlings, their reproduction, the cultivation of medical cannabis or industrial hemp, the production of by-products or final products, and the distribution and circulation of medical cannabis-based products.
Applicants seeking licenses must have at least three years of experience in at least three main activities related to the production, cultivation, and circulation of the cannabis plant for medical purposes. Moreover, the applicants, who should own 51% of the company’s shares, must be engaged in the production of cannabis plant by-products in one of the countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for a minimum of five years and should be a holder of good manufacturing practices issued by either the European Medicines Agency or the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for at least three years. Furthermore, applicants must have a company capital of at least of about $1 million.
The overall area granted for cultivating the cannabis plant for medicinal purposes must not exceed 200 hectares across the country. Additionally, the area designated for each licensed unit engaged in medical cannabis activities should range from five hectares to a maximum of ten hectares.
As the law sets stringent criteria for obtaining a license, no Albanian company currently meets the conditions, as highlighted by several local news websites.
The text of the law suggests that all operations related to medical cannabis and industrial hemp will be exclusively for export. Moreover, the bill doesn’t address the establishment of a domestic medical cannabis market, which means patients will lack access to medical cannabis treatment, and local companies won’t benefit from the various applications of industrial hemp.
As a result, the main goal of this legislation appears to create a favorable environment for foreign companies to invest in Albania while the state gains tax revenue.
The bill faced strong opposition during the Parliament vote. The critics questioned why the socialists approved the draft bill through an accelerated procedure in the parliamentary committees without conducting a study on the benefits the Albanian economy might gain compared to the social, health, and criminal risks and consequences associated with cannabis use.
Albania has emerged as a major hub for drug trafficking in Europe, with a well-established criminal network that transports drugs from its ports to various destinations across the continent, including European capitals.
Illicit cannabis cultivation has witnessed a substantial rise in Albania, positioning it as the seventh-largest cannabis cultivator globally, as reported by the World Drug Report 2022 from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Not only does Albania produce enough cannabis to meet local demand, but it also exports to other regions. Despite efforts by law enforcement to crack down on these criminal groups, significant results have not been achieved so far.