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6th March 2023
15th February 2023
Italy: The Lazio Administrative Tribunal (TAR) has annulled the Decree on Officinal Plants, which came into force in May 2022, subjecting hemp flower and leaf extraction to the Narcotics Law. The TAR ruled that the decree contravened Articles 34 and 36 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and went beyond the objective of protecting public health. The ruling makes extensive mention of both the Kanavape case and the French Council of State ruling against the hemp flowers ban.
13th December 2022
Italy: A number of deputies from left-wing opposition parties have presented an amendment to the 2023 Budget Bill that aims to legalise recreational cannabis under a state monopoly system and allow up to five plants to be grown at home. The Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM) would be in charge of overseeing the farming, processing and sale of cannabis and cannabis-derived products. If the amendment is adopted, an excise duty on recreational cannabis would be introduced.
17th November 2022
17th October 2022
27th September 2022
Italy: A hard-line stance against cannabis can be expected in Italy after the far-right Brothers of Italy party (Fratelli d’Italia) took first place in Sunday’s election with over 26% of the vote. The party, led by populist Giorgia Meloni, is likely to form a coalition with other right-wing parties, Forza Italia and the League – whose leader, Matteo Salvini, rejects the difference between “soft” and “hard” drugs and does not believe in the benefits of legalising or decriminalising adult-use cannabis.
12th September 2022
25th July 2022
Italy: Prime minister Mario Draghi has submitted his resignation and dissolved Parliament after the right-wing parties withdrew their support in the Senate. The next elections are due in September 2023 and the far-right Brothers of Italy are currently ahead in the polls, followed by the Democratic Party, League and Five Star parties. Right-wing parties are generally less amenable to cannabis than those to the left or centre. The bill on home growing of cannabis will not come to a vote in the current legislative session.
21st July 2022
Italy: Industry association Federcanapa has appealed to the Lazio administrative tribunal against the national Decree on officinal plants, which it says is contrary to the Hemp Law. The text of the decree is vague and open to different interpretations, and authorities might interpret it in a way that would ban the sale of hemp flowers and/or extraction from hemp flowers and leaves.
5th July 2022
Italy: The minister for youth and the Department for Anti-Drug Policies have presented to Parliament the Annual report on drug addiction, in which they recommend decriminalising personal use of certain drugs. The lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, is currently discussing a bill to legalise and regulate the home growing of up to four cannabis plants.
30th June 2022
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