Nick Clegg, the former Liberal Democratic leader, calls for legalization in the UK, following global trends

Citing the German and American cannabis market reforms, Nick Clegg, the former British Prime Minister, has now gone public with his support for cannabis legalization in the UK. In doing so, he is joining other public figures globally including four Nobel Laureates, in calling for a radical overhaul of not just British but global cannabis policy. Indeed, leaders from countries including New Zealand (former PM Helen Clark), Columbia (former president Juan Manuel Santos), Switzerland (Ruth Dreifuss, former president) and others have also added their voices of support in a new report called Time to End Prohibition.

Clegg’s comments come not only just after the momentous news that Germany’s new government will move forward on recreational reform as early as next year and as the UK unveils a new Ten-Year Strategy to combat drug crime and related issues that will target users and dealers with a hefty price tag of about $330 million.

Time For a Global Change

There is clearly a renewed call for such reforms now that Germany, Europe’s largest economy has announced a forward motion on the legalization topic as of next year. 

Further, as the debate continues to escalate (including at the UN level), there is a clear trade-off emerging in policy approaches to reform. Many countries, now cash-strapped because of Covid, are looking at the cannabis sector to create economic development opportunities.

The UK, while behind other countries is unlikely to sit this one out for the long term. Starting with the fact that despite onerous cannabis policies, the UK is still a cannabis exporting country.

International vs. Sovereign Reform

For the last ten years, cannabis reform has been very much a sovereign discussion. However, with Europe now entering the fray on a regional level and multiple countries around the world putting at least medical reform on the front burner, the conversation has clearly shifted. Further, the Covid Pandemic has also clearly shown the industry is an essential one – and further one that so far, has proven to be, if not Pandemic Proof, growing despite the global health crisis.

It is undoubtedly easier for those out of office now to lead the call for political change – but as Germany has shown this is also beginning to shift – particularly as new governments come into power. Indeed, Germany is not the first coalition government to enter office on the promise of cannabis reform. See Luxembourg in 2018.

However, the fact that so many former leaders are now calling on those who replaced them to move the conversation forward is just another sign that the globe is moving in a green direction and will certainly not turn back.

The International Cannabis Business Conference returns to Europe in 2022! Stay tuned.

A trend is developing – Italy, Luxembourg and now Malta, are on the verge of “recreational reform” that only allows for the personal cultivation of a limited number of cannabis plants. Is this the new “normal” until Germany leads the way?

If there is such a thing as a “trend” afoot in the European recreational cannabis reform discussion, then this is clearly one. Home grow is a hot topic in multiple European countries right now that are all publicly claiming to be implementing “recreational reform.” 

This is of course a huge irony considering not quite so recent developments. Namely, of course, that just as the Swiss are gearing up to launch their rec trial in 2022, Germany will probably legalize some kind of commercial marketplace and infrastructure, even if they kick the can down the road for a market start. Furthermore, it is precisely because the Germans did NOT want to tangle with the issue of patient home growing for medical use that the Bundestag passed the medical reform bill they did in 2017.

How four years ago. Not to mention, how much has changed.

In Germany right now, despite rising patient numbers, the pushback from the insurers and MDK is still considerable, in part because of the cost of cannabis treatment (still, sadly) and because cannabis is still considered a “drug of last resort.” Patients who cannot prove this, of course, are in the deep end of hell.

This is why the revived European home grow trend is so interesting. It also means that there will probably be some kind of home grow provision in the German recreational reform language. There must be. Nobody wants to penalize patients who still cannot get prescribing doctors or healthcare approval.

Regardless, this is a very, very interesting trend indeed. It means that there will be a huge interest in the mom-and-pop grassroots, even if such efforts have little chance of becoming legit. The Canadian model, for starters, showed that the commercial market’s largest competitor was patients.

The fact that this trend is now starting to take place in Europe is also a testament to the perhaps late realization by the powers that be that if medical reform takes place, there is little to stop the ball from rolling forward, starting with the fact that those who are sick and cannot get the drug any other way, will also almost always resort to “other” channels to get the only drug that seems to make a difference. 

With a focus on stamping out the black market, this also then pushes the discussion, in European countries right now at any rate, into a gentle slope that may start with home grow but in fact is a tipping point for full and final reform.

Be sure to keep up with European cannabis business trends – attend the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to Europe next spring and summer.