Will North Macedonia become Amsterdam in the Balkans?

It came like thunder from a clear sky.

While all the countries of the world were fighting against the coronavirus pandemic, the Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, presented an ambitious plan for the economic recovery of his country, which does not provide for more or less legalization of marijuana, for both medical and personal purposes. use, but with the primary goal of developing a multi-million dollar multi-ethnic state.

And to everyone’s surprise, no one was clearly opposed to the idea. Neither the opposition VMRO-DPMNE, which seizes every possible opportunity to attack the Zaev government, nor the very influential Albanian parties in the country, both the ruling majority and the opposition.

Only President Stevo Pendarovski expressed concern about the correctness of the idea, but he did not reject it, but demanded debate among experts and discussion in Macedonian society before implementing such an idea of ​​national importance, Zaev said.

In October last year, a factory with the largest medical cannabis cultivation capacity was opened in the Skopje industrial zone.

It is a factory with an area of ​​17,800 square meters, with the largest capacity of its kind in the old continent. The inauguration was attended by Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and Health Minister Venko Filipche.

It is important to remember that the sale of cannabis for medical purposes in the country was legalized four years ago.

The idea, which left many speechless, has been very well thought out, according to Zaev, because a strategy has already been developed on the form and conditions of sale, as well as what standards the establishments where the consumption of marijuana will be allowed to meet. .

Zaev seems to be very well prepared for the implementation of such a plan. He believes this will strengthen the service sector’s share of Macedonia’s GDP, which is now only four percent.

It is also interesting that all citizens of the country will be able to grow two or three stems of marijuana for their own use. As Zaev claims, this will be precisely regulated and each stem will have a serial number.

Promising idea, but how it will be implemented in practice remains to be seen.

It was also unclear how the prime minister of the Republic of North Macedonia, a certified economist from Strumica, a city known for its vegetable production, came up with such an idea. It remains to be seen whether marijuana will replace the reduced production of tomatoes and other crops, widely known for their Macedonian brand.

However, one thing is for sure: the Macedonian economy is entering a serious process of restructuring and recycling. The Macedonian sun and the fertile soil will now be well used again, perhaps not because of the taste of juicy tomatoes with an authentic aroma, but because of the new green product, increasingly popular with the young population. No one has yet said anything about its negative impact, as well as training on the possible free use of marijuana according to the law.

It is essential to check the financial benefit first. Zaev says that based on the experience of the countries that did it, legalizing marijuana will reduce the use of heavy drugs such as cocaine or heroin by 40 to 50 percent.

By BTA.