engleski

Cannabis potentials for the development of the bio economy and the green transformation of Croatia

Productivity in all sectors of the Croatian bio economy is only 38% of the EU average, i.e. the Croatian economy is much more inefficient than the EU average in the use of material resources for the production of economic wealth, so in 2017 it was 1.19 EUR / kg, while the EU average was 2.04 EUR / kg. Full legalization and liberalization of cannabis (hemp) would greatly increase the productivity of the Croatian bio economy because all parts of the plant are usable. Cannabis (hemp) is bio resource for several industries: construction, paper, textile, food, cosmetics, chemical, paint and varnish industry, pharmaceutical, automotive, aerospace industry, but also as an energy source (biomass). Cannabis (hemp) can also help in promotion of the year-round tourism. Hemp products have a high added value, which can significantly increase the productivity of Croatian bio resources. The transformative sustainable potentials of cannabis (hemp) are not limited only to the economic field because plant also has extremely large phytoremediation and environmental potentials. Namely, hemp can improve the state of the environment, not only in terms of cleaning contaminated soil, but also in terms of mitigation, i.e. reduction of CO2 emissions. Global warming is a partially consequence of greenhouse gas emissions, the so-called CO2 equivalents, and cannabis (hemp) can reduce them because it absorbs more CO2 than many trees so it is a crop with the sink CO2 potential. Due to the fact that cannabis (hemp) has a short growing cycle (between 12 and 14 weeks), the phytoremediation characteristics make cannabis (hemp) an extremely sustainable crop because, in addition to the already mentioned CO2 absorption, hemp removes radioactive chemicals and toxins from the soil and helps preserve biodiversity, especially bee communities. Full legalization and liberalization of cannabis (hemp) has not only economic and environmental potential but also social one. It would allow many people suffering from some serious diseases easy, direct and cheap access to remedies that can alleviate the symptoms of the disease. This paper use method of qualitative content analysis of the available scientific literature regarding the economic, environmental and social benefits of cannabis (hemp). Paper synthesizes results of this research and applies them to create projections of the development of the Croatian bio economy, partially based on full legalization and liberalization of the cannabis (hemp).

cannabis (hemp), bio economy, sustainable development, climate change, mitigation

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