Medical cannabis production in Italy may triple in 2020 as the government aims to lesser its reliance on imports, according to Marijuana Business Daily.
The only organization with the license to cultivate medical cannabis in Italy, Stabilimento Chimico Farmaceutico di Firenze (SCFF), was recently authorized by Italy's health ministry to produce 500 kilograms of cannabis flower in 2020, the publication said.
This year's production is reportedly expected to total less than 200 kilograms.
Last year, 578 kilograms of medical cannabis were sold to patients in Italy, and it is estimated the sum will be much bigger for 2019. This indicates that domestic production has not met the demand in the country.
Legalization of cannabis light blocked
However, at the same time, Italy’s Senate has blocked the legalisation of ‘cannabis light, as reported on thelocal. The head of Italy’s Senate has blocked the legalisation of a weaker form of cannabis, in a last-minute reversal of a bill approved by parliament last week.
Italy’s parliament had given legalisation the green light while approving an amendment to the 2020 budget at the end of last week.
But in passing the budget early on Tuesday morning, the president of the Senate, Maria Elisabetta Casellati, declared the amendment “inadmissible” on technical grounds.
Parliament’s decision to legalise weaker cannabis products, containing less than 0.5 percent of the psychoactive compound THC, last week was widely seen as a victory for farmers and sellers across Italy who accused the former government minister Matteo Salvini of leading a “witch hunt” against Italy’s cannabis growers. The former interior minister had vowed to close down all shops selling so-called cannabis light.
Casellati, who is a member of the centre-right Forza Italia party, an ally of Matteo Salvini’s League, said the decision was not politically motivated. “If you think this measure is so important for the majority, then propose a bill,” Casellati told members of the Five Star Movement (M5S), which rules in a coalition with the centre-left Democratic Party (PD). The decision cannot be appealed.
