On May 9, Albania’s Socialist Party Prime Minister, Edi Rama, announced that his government had been quietly working for the past year on a bill that would make way for  the legalisation of medical cannabis. “The draft will be ready very soon and open for public discussion,” Rama said. Yet, even with 22 countries in Europe already allowing the use of cannabis for medical purposes, Albania’s announcement has raised eyebrows. Backers of the idea say that the Balkan country, hit by a devastating earthquake in November last year and braced for a severe economic downturn due to COVID-19, should grab its slice of a global medical cannabis market worth more than $16 billion last year.