For comparison, while Italy consumes 1.2 tons of cannabis for 60 million inhabitants, the German consumption reaches 10 tons for a population of 80 million. A large part of these 10 tons is actually destined for patients with social issues, individuals identified as pseudo-patients, a term used to mask the fact that 80% of these subjects consume cannabis for recreational activities such as smoking (which is an important aspect to consider while analyzing data, as the expected risk of abuse in Italy is much lower). This is the underlying reason for the interest expressed by the German government towards legalization of cannabis for recreational use – the distribution channels for medical cannabis are being exploited by people interested only in recreational use, coupled with the expected incomes that would be diverted to illegal markets.
