Regional Administrative Court: cannabis oil permitted only with a one-off medical prescription

Cannabiolo is available only on a non-renewable prescription. The Lazio Regional Administrative Court upholds the decree by which the Ministry of Health, on 27 June 2024, whilst updating the tables containing the classification of narcotic and psychotropic substances for therapeutic use, included formulations for oral administration of cannabidiol amongst the medicines for which a non-renewable prescription is required, i.e. one that must be renewed with every purchase. The administrative courts have ruled that the measure is lawful.

The appeal lodged by CbWeed Srl, a company active in the sale of products derived from Cannabis sativa, was thus dismissed. The appellant argued, amongst other things, that the conclusions reached by the Ministry were unlawful ‘since it had not been established with regard to CBD (cannabidiol), nor the alleged nature of the substance as a psychotropic drug’.

The Regional Administrative Court, setting out the argument that ‘cannabis in its entirety remains classified as a narcotic substance whose dangerousness is inherent, given that cultivation is permitted only for the purposes defined by the legislator”, and the fact that ‘the scientific considerations and assessments on which the contested measure is based must not address the nature of cannabis as a psychotropic substance or narcotic, but must exclusively assess the condition of ‘dependence’ that may result from the oral intake of CBD-based compounds’, held that, since the Administration, in the exercise of its technical discretion on the basis of scientific literature , had assessed the risks, ‘the measure adopted is appropriate, on the basis of the precautionary principle aimed at averting potential risks to public health and safety without having to wait for the presence of THC in all preparations and the consequent actual situation of dependence to be fully demonstrated’.

In a further ruling – but on virtually identical grounds – the Regional Administrative Court also dismissed an appeal lodged by Crystal Srl, a company specialising in the marketing of natural products, challenging the circular issued by the Ministry of Health in August 2024 regarding the use of CBD in cosmetic products .