Since 2016, it has been legal in Italy to sell products based on cannabis that do not exceed 0.6% THC, the main psychoactive substance found in the plant. In Portugal, for example, the limit is set at 0.2%.
The Italian Government wants to ban the sale of “cannabis light”, a variety of cannabis with a low psychoactive content, which has been legal in the country since 2016. Producers and traders say that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s position puts around 3,000 people at risk companies and 15 thousand jobs.
Alessio entered the marijuana business in 2015. He controls the entire production chain, from cultivation to sale in five stores spread across Rome. But now, the business is at risk due to the position of Giorgia Meloni’s Government, which intends to include products based on cannabidiol, or CBD, on the list of prohibited recreational drugs.
Since 2016, it has been legal in Italy to sell products based on cannabis that do not exceed 0.6% THC, the main psychoactive substance found in the plant. In Portugal, for example, the limit is set at 0.2%.
The change in the law allowed the growth of the cannabis in Italy and the emergence of the so-called “cannabis light”, sold in stores in different forms, whether in flower, oils or foods.
The government wants to reverse the decision, because it says the products have harmful effects on health, despite studies showing the absence of psychotropic effects when the presence of THC is residual.
Meloni’s party says the change is inevitable, as the current law, which regulates the entire centuries-old hemp industry, is being illegitimately exploited for the sale of recreational drugs.
The Ministry of Health’s decree that aims to ban CBD is suspended by the court, which accepted an appeal presented by the producers. A new hearing is scheduled for December 16, to decide the future of the industry.
