Cannabis and CBD in Italy: interview with former Italian senator Marco Perduca on cannabis legality

Interview with former Italian senator Marco Perduca on the legality of cannabis

Italy has had a long relationship with hemp, used for centuries as food and in the textile industry. In 2016, Italy raised the permitted THC limit, which was key to the emergence of so-called “cannabis light”, in other words, the CBD boom. However, recent developments point to new obstacles for cannabis products and their users.

I spoke to former Italian senator Marco Perduca, who in 2021 promoted a national referendum to legalise cannabis.

*Note: this interview was conducted in 2023. Italian law has changed since then: the April 2025 Security Decree banned the sale of hemp flower. We cover it here: *Italy passes a decree banning CBD: the hemp sector on alert

What were the consequences of raising the THC limit to 0.6% for cannabis use and the development of the industry in Italy?

The law, adopted unanimously in 2016 at the request of advocates and the private sector alike, was supposed to be a “back to the future” decision of sorts. In fact, in the 1950s, Italy and the USSR were the world's largest producers of industrial hemp. When Italy adopted its first comprehensive drug law in the mid-1970s, it also banned the use of the plant listed in the 1961 Single Convention. The political decision to proceed unanimously had major repercussions on the regulations which, while on the one hand they gave the green light to production, on the other hand were unclear about the uses of these “new” products, creating problems in particular for shops rather than for growers or users. The lack of clarity, which led to several shops being raided by the financial police (Guardia di Finanza), also discouraged significant investment in a sector that was at the mercy of the incoming minister's propaganda.

Is it currently legal to sell CBD-rich flower with less than 0.6% THC for smoking?

Flower can only be sold “for collection purposes”, which means you can buy flower and, if someone asks why you bought it, you have to state that you are a collector. Whether you believe the lack of clarity in the rules was meant to get things moving or that Italian lawmakers are unable to draft a law is a matter of debate. I would go for the first option.

Are there many CBD shops in the big cities? Do you have any idea how many there are in Rome or Milan? Dozens, hundreds?

In the year after the new law was adopted, the rate at which “grow shops”, as they are called, were opening was incredible and unsustainable, in the thousands. According to the Italian hemp guide compiled by Dolce Vita magazine, there are around 900 businesses specialising in cannabis light, including associations and companies that sell and produce hemp for “industrial” use. Estimates issued in 2018 were three times higher. As is often the case in new economic sectors, a boom was followed by a bust.

Do you have any estimate of how many Italians use cannabis or CBD products?

Unfortunately, there are no reliable studies on this subject. The latest National Drug Report says that there are four million people in Italy who use cannabis regularly, but it does not specify the potency of the plant.

What does the latest development in mid-August 2023 really mean in terms of placing CBD in the narcotics category?

The new decree will come into force on 20 September 2023, so at this stage we can only speculate, but when an active pharmaceutical ingredient is classified as a narcotic, its production, import, storage, distribution or sale requires much more paperwork and security than if it were not classified as such. Bureaucracy costs time and money and can become a deterrent for everyone involved in the CBD chain, from production to use. The decree affects CBD taken orally, so oils and other edible products can only be sold in pharmacies and bought with a non-repeatable prescription. It is a political decision that had already been taken in 2020, but it was suspended because more evidence and studies were considered necessary. The decree makes no reference to scientific studies, so it is hard to understand what arguments were put forward to confirm the classification. Once again, poorly drafted legislation will create problems with several WHO recommendations and with a recent ruling of the European Court of Justice. That ruling partly responded to a request from French organisations complaining that the French government wanted to block the sale of imported CBD produced elsewhere in the EU. We will see how it develops.

In general, what is the policy on “recreational” cannabis in Italy?

Following a Constitutional Court ruling in 2014 that struck down parts of the 2006 law tightening the comprehensive regulation adopted in 1990, personal use and possession of all illicit drugs have been substantially decriminalised. The “circumstances” (the presence of tools for cutting and preparing doses, different types of packaging, scissors, scales and the like) in which someone is caught with, or is in possession of, the plants or substances can still be grounds for prosecution and possibly imprisonment. Cultivation remains a serious offence punishable by up to seven years in prison. However, in 2019, the Court of Cassation clarified that if the growing is rudimentary, the plants are few and the flower has low potency, such conduct should not be considered an offence. Other Court of Cassation rulings have acquitted people with more than a kilo of THC-rich cannabis that they were growing or possessing for therapeutic use, since there are not enough products in Italy to guarantee treatment for everyone who has a prescription. Case law favours reducing, if not cancelling, the punishment for personal use.

What is the prevalence of THC use? Is it increasing or decreasing? What about young people?

Use seems to be stable; the government puts the number of users at four million, while the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction puts it at six million. This figure seems to be stable; other EU-sponsored studies indicate that the first encounter with cannabis happens in the last years of primary school, around the age of 10. Research has also shown that, in the case of hash, the quality of the substance is very low. However, there is growing concern about skunk or “supercannabis”, which is often CBD flower sprayed with enhanced active ingredients, or synthetic cannabinoids, and is more addictive. Since the re-legalisation of industrial hemp, or perhaps as a new fashion trend, growing has also become more popular among young people. Despite all the alarms, the latest National Drug Report, issued by the government in July 2023, indicates that the average age of illicit drug users in Italy is 40.

How does the medical cannabis system work in Italy? What does it look like in theory and in practice?

Italy was one of the first European countries to allow cannabis to be prescribed by doctors, in 2006, importing Bedrocan and Bediol from the Netherlands. Italy has a “federalised” welfare system, in which the cost of treatment can be reimbursed if the region of residence has regulations on it. Since 2012, 18 of the 20 regions have adopted laws setting out the conditions under which products can be reimbursed, limiting prescribing powers to specific types of doctors (the national law allowed all GPs to prescribe). The law required the regions to share with the central government the number of prescriptions issued, the reasons and any adverse effects. However, this exchange of information never happened. In 2015, Italy began domestic production at the Military Chemical and Pharmaceutical Institute in Florence to try to meet the growing demand for medical cannabis. Since 2017, Italy has also been buying THC- and CBD-rich flower for medical purposes through tenders that, over the last four years, have been won by non-Italian companies based in Germany (and owned by US or Canadian groups); in 2022, an Italian consortium finally had the chance to produce a few hundred kilos. According to the International Narcotics Control Board, Italy should be entitled to produce or import up to three tonnes of medical cannabis. Between imports from the Netherlands, which has a special agreement with Italy, domestic production and tenders, the cannabis available for therapeutic purposes does not reach one tonne, leaving almost two thirds of existing patients without products. There has been talk of increasing production in Italy, thanks in part to special funds (almost €1.5 million) earmarked for the Florence institute, and of setting up public-private partnerships to supply the missing two tonnes of flower, but changes of government have not allowed this to happen. The current administration is not necessarily against medical cannabis, but it is not in favour either, as we have seen with the new rules on CBD.

Are there any trends we should be aware of? Does Italy plan to legalise and regulate THC-rich cannabis in the near future, like Germany or possibly Czechia, or should we expect your country to take a different direction?

As long as Meloni's centre-right government is in office, that is not going to happen. At the same time, another referendum could risk being declared inadmissible because of the decision taken in 2022, which was borderline. In October 2023, five judges will change: some appointed by the President of the Republic, a former moderate Christian Democrat, and others elected by a Parliament in which the majority is ultra-conservative on this issue.

Note: This interview has been adapted from the original by Cannactiva and translated automatically.