Researchers in the United States found that legalizing cannabis for medicinal or therapeutic use could take a significant segment of the traditional medicine market.
The authors of this research are Ziemowit Bednarek and Jacqueline M. Doremus, from Orfalea College of Business, California Polytechnic State University, United States; and Sara S. Stith, Department of Economics, University of New Mexico.
The study called “U.S. Cannabis Laws Projected to Cost Generic and Brand-Name Pharmaceutical Companies Billions” analyzed the stock market behavior of pharmaceutical industry stocks up to 10 days after the legalization of recreational and medical cannabis and concluded that the estimated loss would be nearly $10 billion.
“Legal cannabis applies competitive pressure to the generic and brand-name drug markets, in both classes of drug manufacturers (original and generic patents). Cannabis can be purchased without a prescription and grown at home, unlike any other conventional medicine,” cites one of the conclusions of the research.
In other research and scientific articles that we have published in MCN it has been confirmed that cannabis can replace or significantly reduce the use of medications to combat depression, psoriasis, anxiety, among others; Thus, the market for opiates, for example, would decline.
In fact, according to the researchers, those who had a greater impact were branded drugs, without existing competitors, since cannabis does not need or be limited by patents.
In addition, the study concludes that pharmaceutical companies should be investing in the cannabis market, both in companies and in research, instead of competing against it. This is a market in constant growth and will increasingly take more part of the health sector both in its recreational and medicinal use globally.
in Costa Rica. 
