Cannabis light, here is what you can do and what is prohibited after the law on safety

Cannabis light, a new leaf is turned. The security decree that has just been converted into law by the Senate, where the opposition staged a sit-in in the hemicycle and almost came close to a brawl with the majority, deals a heavy blow to hemp with a low tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content. The declared objective is to 'prevent the assumption of hemp inflorescence products from favouring - through alterations of the psychophysical state - the onset of behaviours that may endanger public safety or road safety'.

Article 18 of the measure, strongly desired by the undersecretary to the presidency of the Council, Alfredo Mantovano, who is in charge of anti-drugs, intervenes, therefore, to amend Law 242/2016 that regulates the support and promotion of the cultivation and agro-industrial chain of hemp. In particular, it establishes a ban on the import, transfer, processing, distribution, trade, transport, dispatch and delivery of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) inflorescences, including in semi-processed, dried or shredded form. Also prohibited is the marketing of products containing the flowers, including extracts, resins and oils derived from them. The association Canapa Sativa Italia, chaired by Mattia Cusani, points out that the recall of Article 18 applies only to products that exceed the THC thresholds permitted by law (Δ-9-THC 0.2%, tolerance 0.6%, or 0.3% for varieties permitted by EU regulation 2021/2115) or are concretely suitable to produce psychotropic effects. Light' inflorescences within the limits are not prohibited. 'The supply chain - seeds, fibres, cosmetics, food - continues to operate legally,' Cusani explains.

The cultivation of hemp is now permitted without the need for authorisation on condition that it is used to produce, among other things, products for professional floriculture. The agricultural production of seeds for 'uses permitted by law' within the contamination limits currently defined by the decree of the Minister of Health of 4 November 2019 is saved from the stop, thanks to an amendment introduced in the transition from bill to decree law.

In the event of transgression of the prohibitions, the law provides for the application of the sanctions laid down in Title VIII of the Consolidated Law on Narcotic Drugs (Presidential Decree 309/1990). The main offences covered - recalled in the dossier of the Study Service of Palazzo Madama - are those of production, trafficking and illicit possession of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances. For cannabis (Table II) the basic penalty is 2-6 years (Article 73, paragraph 4), ranging from 6 months to 4 years if the offence is minor (paragraph 5). The 6-20 year range is activated with serious aggravating circumstances or for Schedule I substances. A fine of between EUR 26,000 and EUR 260,000 is also provided for. Greater penalties are provided for if the offence is committed by a person who holds the authorisation to cultivate, produce, import, export or trade narcotic or psychotropic substances, while lesser penalties apply to minor cases) and the association for the purpose of illicit trafficking in narcotic or psychotropic substances, punished with imprisonment of no less than twenty years for those who promote, constitute, direct, organise or finance the association and imprisonment of no less than ten years for those who participate in it.

The same chapter establishes a number of specific aggravating circumstances that increase the penalties by between a third and a half, including delivery of substances to a minor, sale inside or near schools, youth communities, barracks, prisons, hospitals, facilities for the treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts, and adulteration that accentuates the harmful potential of the substances. The penalty is increased by half to two-thirds, however, if the offence concerns large quantities of narcotic or psychotropic substances, and is increased to thirty years when both the large quantity and the adulteration that accentuates the harmfulness are present. Other offences envisaged are those of facilitating the use of narcotic or psychotropic substances, of instigation, proselytising and inducing a minor to commit an offence, and of abusive prescriptions for non-therapeutic use.