(Below is the introductory article in a URN series, to be published over the coming weeks, on medical and industrial cannabis in Ukraine, its potential uses in the reconstruction of the country and the possibilities for foreign investors.)
Today, Aug. 16, the law regulating cannabis in Ukraine changes.
The new law, on par with liberal legislation in many European Union nations, allows the use of medicinal cannabis to treat the post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by many veterans and, industrially, to produce building materials such as hempcrete, insulation, fiberboard and paint.
Under the new law, cannabis could become an element in the EU-supported goal of "building back better" – a tool for both healing & building, reconstruction & recovery. The law does not allow recreational use, skirting the pushback surrounding marijuana's reputation as a "gateway drug" and a force for cultural erosion.
The changes could help attract more foreign investment, with several experienced companies already showing a tentative interest in the cultivation, research and use of cannabis products in Ukraine.
Of course, that won't happen until the Russian invasion ends, as foreign investors are unwilling to risk their capital amid such uncertainty. But the potential for tremendous growth is in place and waiting for peace.
With a low-cost labor force, newly liberalized cannabis laws and fertile land, advocates say, a Ukrainian cannabis crop could eventually rival that of Portugal, which led Europe with its exports of 11 tons of medicinal cannabis products last year, and France, which produces 60% of the industrial cannabis, or hemp, grown in the European Union.
And it could do so while benefiting Ukraine's carbon footprint, a metric watched closely in the EU, because the products are considered a renewable carbon sink, unlike many building products or pharmaceuticals.
However, today's changes aren't "an overnight revolution" that will place cannabis products on pharmacy shelves and in construction materials suppliers throughout Ukraine, Borys Danevych, head of Life Sciences & Healthcare practices at CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang Ukraine, told Ukraine Rebuild Newswire.
