Cannabis sales in EU raise $13 billion for crime gangs

Cannabis consumed in the EU is increasingly produced there
Reuters (UK)
Tuesday, November 26, 2019

europe cannabisEuropeans spent at least 11.6 billion euros (£9.9 billion) in 2017 on illegal cannabis purchases, confirming marijuana as the largest drugs market in the 28-country European Union, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) said in its 2019 European Drug Markets report. Illegal sales of herbal cannabis and its resin represented 39% of the EU’s drugs market, up from 38% in 2013, with revenues for criminal organisations dwarfing those in legal markets. Cocaine is the second most consumed illegal drug in the EU, with sales generating revenues of at least 9 billion euros in 2017, while the heroin market was worth more than 7 billion euros. (See also: Growing like weeds? Rethinking Albania’s culture of cannabis cultivation)