THE POTENTIAL OF THE CANNABIS WORLD - Analysis of the potential of cannabis in several industry sectors; social and economic benefits of legalization

Cannabis is the most used drug worldwide: an estimated 219 million people consumed it in 2021. It is the drug with less perceived risk and, after its legalization for medical and recreational purposes in the greater part of the US, its use has significantly increased, with the proliferation of products with high THC contents. Nowadays, the cannabis market is constantly expanding, and gaining interest and inversions by multinationals. Hemp production and comercialization is a disruptive sector that involves several markets, such as textile, paper, construction, cosmetics, food, biomass and biofuels, wellbeing, and even the sin industry. The goal of this research project is to analyze the potential of cannabis in several industry sectors, the regulatory situation worldwide and its limits, the social and economic benefits of legalization both of medical and recreational use, the complementary policies that could be enforced to rein in demand and evict the black market, and to highlight the changes in tendencies and opinions in the last decades, with a special focus on the Spanish background. The hypothesis is that the cannabis plant is a very powerful resource that could be employed, in a short and medium-term perspective, to ecologically and sustainably rebuild the economical concept and to try to save the planet from climatic collapse. Moreover, that prohibition was unfair and driven by economical and political interests, and the medical use of the plant also encloses an enormous potential in the pharmaceutical sector. The research method employed is a specific literature review of several articles, books, journals, and webpages, complemented by interviews with Spanish and Italian consumers, CBD shops, and cannabis club owners.