Cannabis Europa London is back at The Barbican Centre for two days of conversations with global cannabis leaders, policymakers, industry analysts and patient representatives, and, as ever, the sun has shown up.
‘Cannabis Europa is always blessed with great weather,’ Stephen Murphy, Co-Founder and CEO of Prohibition Partners, told delegates as he opened proceedings.
As has now become a signiture of the conference, hundreds of delegates repeatedly spill into the Barbican’s sun-drenched courtyards between sessions, making connections amid the centre’s striking brutalist architecture, or duck inside to catch the industry’s sharpest voices debate the issues reshaping the market.
Despite the familiar hustle and bustle, this year’s conference is unique. Cannabis Europa 2026 is the industry’s first major convening since the United States moved cannabis to Schedule III, the most significant shift in federal drug policy in half a century. Rescheduling has seeped into almost every conversation of the event’s opening day, both on and off stage.
Europe’s legal medical cannabis market is projected to surpass €1.5 billion, according to Prohibition Partners, and the US rescheduling decision, which for the first time formally recognises cannabis as having medical benefits at federal level, has brought American and European regulatory frameworks closer together than at any point since legalisation began. What that convergence means for operators, investors and patients on both sides of the Atlantic has become this year’s core focus.
As ever, we’ll be walking you through the key sessions and insights as the day rolls on, updating our coverage (almost) live throughout the day.
Murphy, got the ball rolling by drawing a direct line between Cannabis Europa’s origins and the moment the industry now finds itself in.
“We first took place in 2018,” he told delegates. ‘Back then, the conversation was very much theoretical. Today it’s very much practical, we are talking about the realities of delivering patients at scale.”
He called on established industry figures to be generous with their time and knowledge toward those entering the space, framing that openness as a collective responsibility.
“It’s ultimately our responsibility to lay the foundation for what we hope is a very progressive, sustainable, and ethically derived industry.”
The conference began with a personal story, a deliberate choice that Murphy framed as central to how the industry changes minds. Former world heavyweight contender Derek Chisora took to the stage alongside Pierre Van Weperen, Managing Director of Grow Group Limited, to announce the launch of WarOnPain, a patient education platform built around legal medical cannabis access in the UK, and to reveal that he uses prescribed medical cannabis himself.
Why celebrity advocacy matters
The post Cannabis Europa London 2026 – Key Insights, Day 1 (LIVE) appeared first on Business of Cannabis.
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‘Cannabis Europa is always blessed with great weather,’ Stephen Murphy, Co-Founder and CEO of Prohibition Partners, told delegates as he opened proceedings.
As has now become a signiture of the conference, hundreds of delegates repeatedly spill into the Barbican’s sun-drenched courtyards between sessions, making connections amid the centre’s striking brutalist architecture, or duck inside to catch the industry’s sharpest voices debate the issues reshaping the market.
Despite the familiar hustle and bustle, this year’s conference is unique. Cannabis Europa 2026 is the industry’s first major convening since the United States moved cannabis to Schedule III, the most significant shift in federal drug policy in half a century. Rescheduling has seeped into almost every conversation of the event’s opening day, both on and off stage.
Europe’s legal medical cannabis market is projected to surpass €1.5 billion, according to Prohibition Partners, and the US rescheduling decision, which for the first time formally recognises cannabis as having medical benefits at federal level, has brought American and European regulatory frameworks closer together than at any point since legalisation began. What that convergence means for operators, investors and patients on both sides of the Atlantic has become this year’s core focus.
As ever, we’ll be walking you through the key sessions and insights as the day rolls on, updating our coverage (almost) live throughout the day.
Murphy, got the ball rolling by drawing a direct line between Cannabis Europa’s origins and the moment the industry now finds itself in.
“We first took place in 2018,” he told delegates. ‘Back then, the conversation was very much theoretical. Today it’s very much practical, we are talking about the realities of delivering patients at scale.”
He called on established industry figures to be generous with their time and knowledge toward those entering the space, framing that openness as a collective responsibility.
“It’s ultimately our responsibility to lay the foundation for what we hope is a very progressive, sustainable, and ethically derived industry.”
Opening Session: Derek Chisora and Pierre Van Weperen, Grow Group
The conference began with a personal story, a deliberate choice that Murphy framed as central to how the industry changes minds. Former world heavyweight contender Derek Chisora took to the stage alongside Pierre Van Weperen, Managing Director of Grow Group Limited, to announce the launch of WarOnPain, a patient education platform built around legal medical cannabis access in the UK, and to reveal that he uses prescribed medical cannabis himself.
Why celebrity advocacy matters
- Van Weperen highlighted the industry’s inherent limitations. Clinics are barred from using the word cannabis in advertising, many of which delegates likely saw plastered across billboards throughout London on the way to the event.
- The industry, he said, risks talking only to itself. ‘If we as an industry start talking about cannabis, it’s just seen as advertising, we’re speaking to an echo chamber,’ he said.
- Top athletes reach audiences of 20 to 30 million, he argued, a population the industry has so far failed to reach. He pointed to 8 million people on NHS waiting lists for pain management and mental health assessments. ‘That’s actually ridiculous that we’re not doing anything,’ he said.
- Van Weperen said the industry is still battling stigma, and that Chisora’s willingness to speak publicly is rare. ‘I wish there were more people like Derek,’ he said. ‘We know there are a lot of celebrities who consume cannabis, but are scared to speak out.’
- Chisora was candid about the scale of quiet use among elite athletes. ‘The top ten athletes in the world are using cannabis, but they don’t want to speak out,’ he said. ‘For sleep, for recovery. Training hard catches up with you. What’s the best way to sort it out? Pills that damage your kidneys?’
- He said the response to his announcement had already been immediate. ‘It already blows up,’ he said of his phone following news breaking across mainstream media that morning.
- WarOnPain’s education model, built around long-form video content and regulated clinical pathways, is designed to give those athletes, and the millions of people they influence, a visible, legitimate route to explore. The platform is live at waronpain.com.
The post Cannabis Europa London 2026 – Key Insights, Day 1 (LIVE) appeared first on Business of Cannabis.
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