Italy could be one of the first countries in Europe to decriminalise the small scale cultivation of female cannabis plants.
Under the reform, Italian residents would be able to cultivate up to four cannabis plants in their own homes for personal use in a move that aims to stop people from using illicit drug dealers.
In keeping with its aim, the reform, approved by the Lower House justice committee on Wednesday, 8 September, will also increase penalties for cannabis trafficking and dealing crimes from six to 10 years.
Home grows for ItalyÂ
The reform contained three legislative proposals including the regulation of domestic cultivation, domestic cultivation not constituting a crime, and increasing penalties for production, possession and sale and was put forward by MP Riccardo Magi. It received the green light from Italy’s Supreme Court in 2019, however, was not passed until this week.Â
Currently in Italy, which is the second-largest medical cannabis market in Europe according to Prohibition Partners, importing, growing and selling cannabis for medical use is legal if authorisation is given by the Ministry of Health, however, licences are difficult to obtain and imports are only allowed from the Netherlands.
Medical cannabis expert, neurologist and founder of the UK’s Cannabis Industry Council, which represents companies working in the industry and provide a unified voice for the sector, Professor Mike Barnes, commented: “This is a very interesting development. The UK is missing so many opportunities to support a medical cannabis industry.
“Decriminalising small scale cultivation is just one of many solutions to enable this valuable medicine to get to the patients who so badly need it. Clearly it is not suitable for everyone and many would want a prescription from a doctor and many cannot grow themselves and would not want to because of carer or family or employment issues but nevertheless it is one solution to access problems in the UK.
“Sadly many will think this is the only solution unless the influential medical bodies change their intransigent attitude to medical cannabis.”
The majority of medical cannabis is produced by Italy’s Office of Stabilimento Chimico Farmaceutico Militare (SCFM – The Military Pharmaceutical Chemical Plant). The SCFM’s production of cannabis-based substances and medical cannabis began as a pilot project in 2014 following the finalisation of an agreement between the Minister of Defence, Roberta Pinotti and the Minister of Health, Beatrice Lorenzin, and began industrial-scale production at the end of 2016 to meet the growing demand for the medicine in the country by health institutions and private pharmacies.
The only other countries in Europe that allow home cultivation for medicinal use are Austria and Cyprus, and Czech Republic and Spain are the only countries that allow cultivation for personal use.
Find out what the change will mean for Italian medical cannabis patients on our sister title Cannabis Health.
[activecampaign form=31]
