For the director of Curaleaf International, Europe is only a few months away from a «domino effect of recreational cannabis».»

CURALEAF, the U.S. cannabis giant now valued at more than $8 billion, has officially completed the integration of EMMAC Life Sciences in anticipation of what he believes will be the imminent boom in recreational cannabis use in Europe.

The company announced last week that the acquisition of EMMAC—which has been renamed Curaleaf International—for $350 million over nine months had been completed and that the operations of the two companies were now «fully integrated.».

Curaleaf International's Chief Executive Officer, Antonio Costanzo, told BusinessCann that this was an important moment for both companies, laying »the groundwork for the group’s expansion beyond the United States into Europe.».

«This is important to us at EMMAC, but it’s also important to Curaleaf because it’s clear that they took this major step—made a big decision last April—to begin expanding into international markets.»

Recreational cannabis is gaining ground

This move is the latest in a growing number of U.S. cannabis companies looking to invest in the European cannabis market.

During the conference Cannabis Europa 2021, which took place last week in London, Stephen Murphy, co-founder and CEO of Prohibition Partners, said that the progress made in the region is «reflective of the growing interest of U.S. companies in Europe… which are now investing in and participating in the sector.».

However, unlike many of its peers, which are choosing to focus on the safer bet of the medical cannabis market’s growth in Europe, Curaleaf is preparing for what it considers to be the inevitable legalization of recreational cannabis.

«We believe we are on the verge of seeing the next major turning point, which is the legalization of recreational cannabis in certain countries; we expect this to happen sometime in 2022 or early 2023.»

«We are in close contact with the political leaders who are driving this conversation in certain ways in some of the key jurisdictions. We’re seeing that these discussions are generating a lot of interest,» said Mr. Costanzo, pointing to the cannabis production and distribution trials currently being set up in the Netherlands and Switzerland.

He added that he believed there was a «very strong likelihood» that a referendum would be held in Malta during the first half of 2022 on the legalization of recreational cannabis, and he expects that «we will have a set of rules for the legalization of recreational cannabis in Germany» within the next 12 to 18 months, as we reported last week.

European Domino Effect

Once a major European country decides to legalize recreational use, there will be a «domino effect,» according to Mr. Costanzo, who compared this to the legalization of online gambling across Europe.

«When the first major countries did it—particularly Italy and France—there was a domino effect. Other countries said, «Okay, we can’t fall behind—this is happening.» It’s a global trend; we’re going to regulate it too, and I think we’ll see exactly the same thing happen with cannabis.»

Learning from Canada's Mistakes

When that happens, the European industry would be able to grow much faster than its North American counterpart by learning from the legislative mistakes made in the United States and Canada.

Peter Reitano, co-founder of the Canadian cannabis company High12, said at the conference that one could «probably write a book about the disastrous regulatory framework» put in place in Canada After Legalization in 2018.

The most significant problems are the high taxes that have stifled emerging cannabis businesses, the extremely strict regulations that prevent companies from building relationships with their customers, and the THC limits that drive customers to seek out illicit sources.

Mr. Costanzo concluded that Curaleaf International is now in an «ideal position when and if recreational cannabis becomes legal in Europe, as we will be able to benefit from the experience and expertise of Curaleaf’s team in the United States.».

«We hope we can avoid some of the mistakes they made at the beginning and be faster and more effective here in Europe,» he added.