Big opportunities in Europe's cannabis market come with big risks

Earning substantial market share in Europe will not be for the faint of heart or, sadly, the shallow-pocketed
Forbes (US)
Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Interest is running very high among cannabis entrepreneurs looking to capitalize on the prospect of an expanded European cannabis market. Europe is home to more than 740 million people, a population more than double the roughly 360 million people that live in the United States and Canada – the two largest cannabis markets today. If we accept that legal cannabis sales in the United States could reach $75 billion by 2030 – a recent estimate from Cowen, an investment banking and research firm that covers the cannabis industry – then extrapolating that number to account for Europe’s much larger population offers a crystal-clear reason why established cannabis companies in Canada and the United States are now turning their attention to Europe.