Puff of Medicine

Today, with an outlook that allows its cultivation and medicinal use, but still prohibits industrial production, Mexico is potentially considered the largest market for cannabis and industrial hemp, with the potential to account for 15% of the total world market.

Mexico is the second largest cannabis producer in the world, with an estimated 16,500 productive hectares. In 2021, New Frontier Data estimated that there are currently 2.3 million cannabis users in Mexico, indicating a usage rate of 2.5% among the population, which consumes, in aggregate, an estimated

14.7 million ounces of illegally produced and distributed

flower. It is estimated that, once legislation includes adult recreational use, Mexico could become the largest cannabis market in the world, reaching 7.2 million consumers.

It is difficult to estimate the current value of the illegal market, but with an estimated business of between five and seven billion dollars a year in the black market, it is expected that the legal market in Mexico will have an opening value of more than 3.2 billion pesos in the first year alone and that, as a forecast for 2028, it could reach almost $80 billion pesos.

That is why, as of 2016, venture capital investment in the cannabis and hemp industry in Mexico has grown to concentrate 20% of total global investments in that industry. Hence, Mexico is also the Latin American country with the highest concentration of registered patents, where it ranks 12th globally. The potential for intellectual property development in this industry continues to grow as advances in medicine and other sciences support the multiple properties of the plant.

Conclusion

Regulation, like everything else, can be improved. But we must already have a starting point: begin to evaluate the possibilities and problems and test the development and performance of the sector, and make improvements as necessary as we go forward.

The only thing that will allow for the growth of the Mexican cannabis industry is the creation of sufficient regulatory frameworks to fully understand and face the challenge we have against neighboring countries such as the United States, Canada, and Colombia, which are already moving towards legalization and have their own cannabis industry. It is crucial to work together and find coherent solutions as a region to ensure that each country is participating in the industry in the way it can best optimize competitiveness at a global level without neglecting the social justice measures

required to repair the damage caused by the long period

of prohibition.

It is also necessary to pay attention to projections and future trends, without falling into speculations that are not supported by the economic reality of the country.

Organizations such as the Mexican Cannabis and Hemp Council seek to be interlocutors between the agricultural and business sector and state authorities, seeking to establish best practices in order to witness a creative and inventive explosion, both in technological issues, as well as in products and consumer goods, services, schemes and commercial channels. In a market where many will want to participate, only those who are prepared, advised, and properly connected will achieve success.

There are indeed many challenges to face and issues to discuss along the way, but it is time to take action and not let opportunities pass us by. Our work today is focused on supporting the creation of all the tools and models to start up this industry within a framework of effective legislation, good business practices and sustainable development.

We are in the right place at the right time to make Mexico a regional and global leader in this industry. The controversies and potential problems are minimal compared to the benefit: economic and fiscal, technological and scientific, commercial and in public health, that can be obtained if we act in the right way and with the right tools.