Albania: Majority votes for legalisation

Albania has become the latest European country to legalize medical cannabis and industrial hemp in hopes of boosting tax revenues.

Last week, the Albanian parliament voted 69 to 23 in favor of a bill allowing the controlled cultivation, production and export of medical cannabis, alongside industrial hemp. The Albanian government, led by Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama, announced the legalization of medical cannabis in June 2022.

The legislation passed will create a National Cannabis Control Agency, which will operate under the authority of the Minister of Health. 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.

The licenses will be granted through a Licensing Commission established by the agency for various activities, including the importation of seeds or seedlings, their reproduction, cultivation for medical or industrial purposes, the production of by-products or final products such as inflorescences, oils and concentrates, and the distribution and circulation of medical cannabis products.

However, applicants wishing to obtain these 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. Furthermore, the applicants, who are supposed to 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 Co-operation and Development (OECD) for a minimum of five years and should hold good manufacturing practices issued by the European Medicines Agency or the United States Food and Drug Administration for at least three years. Finally, candidates must have a registered capital of at least approximately 1 million US Dollars.

The combined area allowed for the cultivation of the cannabis plant for medicinal purposes must not exceed 200 hectares throughout the country. Furthermore, the designated area for each licensed unit engaged in medical cannabis activity should range from five hectares to a maximum of ten hectares.

As the law establishes stringent criteria for obtaining a license, no Albanian company currently satisfies the conditions, as evidenced by several local news sites.

The text of the law suggests that all operations involving medical cannabis and industrial hemp will be for export only. Furthermore, the bill does not address the creation of a national medical cannabis market, meaning that patients will not have access to medical cannabis treatment and local companies will not benefit from the various applications of industrial hemp.

Consequently, the main objective of this legislation seems to be to create a favorable environment for foreign companies to invest in Albania while the state obtains tax revenues.

The bill met strong opposition during the Parliament vote. Critics questioned why the socialists approved the bill through an accelerated procedure in the parliamentary committees without conducting a study on the benefits that the Albanian economy could obtain compared to the risks and social, health and criminal consequences associated with the use of cannabis.

Albania has emerged as a major drug trafficking hub in Europe, with an established criminal network that transports drugs from its ports to various destinations across the continent, including European capitals.

Illegal cannabis cultivation has experienced a substantial increase in Albania, ranking as the seventh largest cannabis grower globally, as reported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s World Drug Report 2022.

Not only does Albania produce enough cannabis to meet local demand, but it also exports to other regions. Despite the efforts of law enforcement agencies to crack down on these criminal groups, no significant results have been achieved so far.

We will see in the near future if the Albanian heads of state decide to loosen the restrictions required by this first bill, and to meet their compatriots!