The lower house of the Italian parliament has approved a controversial amendment that would ban the trade in hemp flowers – effectively shutting down the source of CBD and cutting off trade in smokable buds.
But a key drug policy agency said fears expressed by stakeholders that the proposed law and regulatory changes will kill the hemp industry are overstated because they will not affect products made from the plant’s seeds and stalks.
The proposed ban is part of a two-pronged approach by the government of Giorgia Meloni, who appears determined to wipe out EU-legal hemp flowers and the cannabinoids derived from them.
War on CBD
A government decree separately blocked the sale of oral CBD products beginning last month, but that order – which placed CBD in Italy’s table of narcotic medicines – was temporarily blocked by a regional court earlier this month.
Hemp trade groups Canapa Sativa Italia (CSI) and Federcanapa, and farming groups CIA-Agricoltori Italiani and Copagri have all lined up against Meloni’s efforts to shut down businesses based on hemp flowers.
“The decision of the Italian Government to continue with this measure, despite the unanimous opposition of the trade organizations, represents a serious mistake,” Mattia Cusani, CSI president, told the magazine Dolce Vita.
To become law, the amendment, which would be attached to Italy’s 2023 Security Law, still needs to be approved by the Italian Senate before going to President Sergio Mattarella for his signature. “The battle for the future of industrial hemp is just beginning,” said Cusani, who predicted a protracted battle over the flower ban in the Italian Senate.
EC investigating
“We are confident that this rule will be rejected by both the Senate and the European courts. The sector will continue to operate, and hemp inflorescences will still be legally marketed and imported,” Cusani said following the amendment’s passage by the Chamber of Deputies.
The European Commission has said it is investigating a complaint already filed by CSI which argues that the ban violates European Union rules on competition and the free movement of goods. In a legally binding decision applicable across the EU, the Commission declared in 2020 that CBD is not a narcotic and may be legally traded in and among member states; raw hemp flowers may also be traded if they are under the EU THC limit of 0.3% or less.
In addition to being the source of CBD, industrial hemp flowers are also sold in Italy as “cannabis light,” catering to a growing market seeking alternative wellness products without the psychoactive effects of marijuana.
Food, fiber safe
Meanwhile, Italy’s national anti-drug policy agency reacted to the pushback by stakeholders who have said the decree banning CBD and the amendment on flowers would kill the entire hemp sector.
In a statement released earlier this week, the Department of Anti-Drug Policies (DPA) under the Presidency of the Council of Ministers said the anti-flower measures will not affect food seed and fiber products.
“The Security Bill does not criminalize or affect the cultivation and agro-industrial supply chain of hemp, as it does not prohibit or limit the production of Cannabis Sativa L. . . . and does not create regulatory and legal conflicts with other EU countries,” according to the DPA statement.
The agency said the amendment is “in line with” the 2002 European Council directive that established a common catalogue of varieties of approved agricultural plant species within the European Union. That directive, “includes the cannabis plant and cannabis resin among narcotic substances, allowing the possibility of using the seeds and stem of the plant only for industrial purposes.” DPA said.
The drug policy agency said marketing and sales of hemp flowers and their derivatives for recreational use violate Italy’s 2016 law that established rules for hemp production.
Specifics under law
DPA said under that law: “Provisions for the promotion of the cultivation and agro-industrial supply chain of hemp, in fact, authorizes the cultivation and processing of Cannabis Sativa L. only for the purpose of obtaining the following products: foods and cosmetics, produced exclusively in compliance with the regulations of the respective sectors; semi-finished products, such as fiber, shives, powders, wood chips, oils or fuels, for supplies to industries and artisanal activities in various sectors, including the energy sector; material intended for green manure; organic material intended for bioengineering work or products useful for green building; material intended for phytoremediation for the remediation of contaminated sites; crops dedicated to educational and demonstration activities as well as research by public or private institutions; crops intended for floriculture. The use of hemp as biomass for energy purposes is permitted exclusively for the company’s self-production of energy.”
Hemp stakeholder groups have said the government’s efforts to wipe out hemp flowers and cannabinoids in Italy could shut down as many as 3,000 companies and idle 11,000 workers.
The proposed ban is part of a two-pronged approach by the government, which seems determined to wipe out EU-legal hemp flowers and cannabinoids. Read More