During the last decade, the European medical hashish panorama has seen a big surge of recent merchandise coming into the market, offering sufferers, particularly within the UK and Germany, with a larger selection than ever earlier than.
Within the early years of the European medical hashish market (2017-2020), medical hashish merchandise in Europe predominantly stemmed from the Netherlands via merchandise offered by Bedrocan; nonetheless, lately, Canada has emerged because the main provider to European markets.
Nevertheless, as extra European markets develop their medical hashish frameworks, demand is rising quickly for an elevated selection and quantity of merchandise sourced via international and home provide chains. As these provide chains develop, product availability has expanded, and European sufferers now have unprecedented ranges of alternative.
The extent to which particular person markets are capable of provide a wide range of merchandise, worth factors, and codecs is pushed by a large number of things. These embrace the precise classification of medical hashish, the product authorisation course of, the variety of sufferers/demand, laws on imports, affected person entry and the extent of competitors.
The surge of medical hashish product availability in Europe is most prominently seen within the German and UK markets. Each of those markets could be outlined as free markets inside the European medical hashish business on account of their comparatively low boundaries of entry for firms and excessive affected person demand.
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When assessing the variety of merchandise out there to sufferers within the UK and Germany, it’s clear that German sufferers have a bigger choice of medical hashish merchandise, totalling 1,104 merchandise, in comparison with the UK, totalling 399 medical hashish merchandise.
Nevertheless, when it comes to product format selection, the UK sufferers have extra selections, as edibles and a broader vary of vape merchandise can be found. The disparity between the 2 international locations when it comes to the variety of merchandise and product format selection is pushed by a number of elements, together with the affected person measurement, the extent of competitors and the classification of medical hashish.
Germany
Germany is by far the most important medical hashish market in Europe when it comes to affected person measurement in addition to product availability. In 2024 alone, the nation imported over 72 tonnes of medical hashish, which was fueled by 4th quarter imports following the implementation of the CanG and MedCanG.
The newly established hashish framework within the nation eliminated hashish from Germany’s record of narcotics, in addition to eased the commerce, dispensation and prescribing of medical hashish. This sparked a big rise in private-pay sufferers, and thus the demand for imported merchandise.
Though there may be an in depth number of flowers and extracts out there on the German market, there are not any edibles and just one vape product out there. This is because of the truth that medical hashish in Germany is bought as a magistral product and never as a prepackaged completed good; thus, the final manufacturing step, checking product high quality and dose packaging, happens within the pharmacies.
Nevertheless, some pharmacies present providers comparable to creating capsules and formulations from extracts. Moreover, the one vape product in the marketplace is assembled by the pharmacy itself.
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Because of the excessive stage of competitors and the wide selection of medical hashish flowers out there in Germany, there’s a giant unfold in common costs, starting from roughly €4 – €17 per gram. The costs for medical hashish flower have seen a big fall all through the years, as again in 2018 the common worth was roughly €20 – €24 per gram; nonetheless, following the rise of sufferers, the adoption of the MedCanG and elevated competitors between suppliers, the commonest worth of medical hashish flower is round €8 – €9 per gram.
It should even be famous that, as there’s a appreciable variety of low-cost choices out there on the medical hashish market, sufferers who traditionally bought hashish illicitly for his or her therapy now not want to take action, as costs are decrease than these discovered on the illicit market.
UK
In comparison with Germany, the UK’s medical hashish market is considerably smaller on account of its stringent import and prescription necessities and the truth that the market is concentrated completely on private-pay sufferers.
Medical hashish within the UK is classed as an unlicensed particular drugs; thus, importers are sure to strict licence necessities to import specials, solely medical doctors with an FP10 managed prescription pad on the GMC Specialist Register are allowed to prescribe medical hashish and earlier than every preliminary prescription a multidisciplinary peer group should focus on to determine if medical hashish therapy is appropriate for the affected person.
Within the UK, medical hashish is bought as a completed product in pharmacies, thus, there’s a bigger selection in codecs within the UK in comparison with Germany. Though there are fewer choices when it comes to flowers and extracts within the UK, there’s a vary of vape cartridges, produced from a wide range of producers, together with Curaleaf, Aurora, Somaí and Noidecs. Moreover, Curaleaf has a choice of edible pastille gums in the marketplace.
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Though there are significantly fewer medical hashish flower merchandise within the UK market, in comparison with Germany, the vary of costs stays related, with costs starting from £3 – £14 per gram (€4 – €17 per gram). The most typical worth of medical hashish flower is £8 – £9 per gram (€9.5 – €10.7 per gram), which is barely larger than that of Germany.
Regardless that there are fewer financial selections of medical flowers within the UK in comparison with Germany, on common, costs are pretty homogenous throughout each markets. Highlighting the truth that each international locations are going through larger ranges of competitors, resulting in a rise in aggressive pricing.
Moreover, costs stay related as a result of nature of the built-in European medical hashish provide chain, the place importers and suppliers purchase product from similar major sources.
