The global cannabis industry is entering a new era, and this month, many of the conversations shaping that future will take place under one roof in London.
On May 26 and 27, industry leaders, investors, policymakers, operators, and advocates from more than 40 countries will gather at Barbican Centre for Cannabis Europa London 2026 — the first major international cannabis summit since the United States formally reclassified cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III.
Hosted by Prohibition Partners, the event arrives at what many see as the most consequential moment for cannabis policy in decades.
In April 2026, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed the federal order moving cannabis to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act, officially recognizing the plant’s accepted medical use at the federal level for the first time in modern US history.
While the move does not legalize adult-use cannabis federally, it dramatically reshapes the conversation around taxation, research, investment, banking, and international trade. It also brings the United States closer in alignment with European medical cannabis systems, many of which already operate within the framework established by the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.
That convergence between American and European cannabis policy is expected to dominate discussions at Cannabis Europa London 2026.
More than 70 speakers and upwards of 1,500 senior delegates are expected to attend, representing regulators, pharmaceutical companies, multi-state operators, institutional investors, medical cannabis businesses, and emerging international markets. With Europe’s medical cannabis sector now estimated at more than $1.8 billion and continuing to expand rapidly, the timing of the event reflects a broader shift happening across the global industry.
The implications are immediate.
As institutional capital cautiously returns to cannabis following US rescheduling, European markets are already seeing increased momentum around valuations, partnerships, and cross-border dealmaking. At the same time, Schedule III fundamentally changes the US tax landscape by potentially easing the burden of IRS Section 280E, long considered one of the industry’s most restrictive financial obstacles.
For North American operators looking toward Europe, the opportunity is substantial — but so is the pressure to meet increasingly strict EU-GMP production standards and pharmaceutical-grade compliance expectations.
Cannabis Europa has increasingly become one of the key places where those international relationships are formed.
For many US and Canadian companies, two days in London can replace months of fragmented outreach across multiple European markets. Few events outside North America bring together this level of regulatory, financial, and operational influence in one place.
This year’s programming reflects the weight of the moment.
One featured fireside discussion, “The View from the White House: Rescheduling in the US,” includes Saphira Galoob alongside Bryan Lanza, exploring what Schedule III changes in practical terms — and what uncertainties still remain for businesses operating globally.
Another major session, “Schedule III and Beyond: What a Maturing US Framework Means for Europe,” will be led by David Ruskin and examine whether the United States and Europe are truly moving toward regulatory alignment or developing fundamentally different cannabis systems.
Additional panels will explore international drug treaties, patient access, supply chain expansion, pharmaceutical regulation, investment trends, and the evolving role of cannabis within global healthcare infrastructure.
Beyond policy and business, the event underscores something larger happening culturally and economically around cannabis itself.
For years, the international cannabis industry operated in fragmented regional silos — North America, Europe, Latin America, Israel, Thailand, Australia — each evolving independently under different legal structures and political realities. Schedule III may not erase those differences overnight, but it signals a shift toward a more interconnected global market where regulation, capital, medicine, and commerce increasingly move together.
Cannabis Europa London 2026 may ultimately be remembered less as a conference and more as a marker of transition: the moment the global cannabis industry began recalibrating itself around a new international reality.
Cannabis Europa will take place on May 26–27, 2026 at the Barbican Centre in London. Full agenda information and delegate registration are available on the official website.
