Italy's flourishing "cannabis light" industry is at risk, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni pushes a bill through parliament to deflower a crop that is legal across much of Europe. Her conservative coalition wants to ban the sale of hemp flower products, but those in the trade say it's economic suicide. - REUTERS
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00:00Italy's flourishing so-called cannabis-light industry risks being uprooted this year,
00:06with Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni pushing a bill through Parliament that producers say
00:11threaten thousands of jobs and millions of euros of investments.
00:15Marijuana production is illegal in Italy, but, eight years ago, Parliament authorized
00:20trade in hemp, a cannabis variety grown for its industrial and non-psychoactive uses.
00:26Now Meloni's arch-conservative coalition government says the 2016 law is too lax
00:31and wants to ban any product deriving from the hemp flower.
00:35Hemp producers like Alessio Amicone are crying foul at its rapid reversal.
00:42It's absurd that a state wants to protect, safeguard and make Italian businesses work
00:47by starting a legitimate supply chain, and now wants to shut it all down,
00:51sending people home and forcing entrepreneurs to buy abroad.
00:54They're not protecting Italian companies. They're protecting foreign companies.
00:59The government's anti-drug department likens the products made from the flower to recreational
01:04drugs, saying in a statement they could pose risks to public or road safety.
01:09And Augusta Monterulli, a lawmaker with Meloni's Brothers of Italy party,
01:14says the ruling coalition is determined to stamp out grey areas in the law.
01:18If anyone was hoping to operate within legal uncertainty, that's not possible with us,
01:25she said. But Amicone says they're waging a war on a substance that science has proven
01:33is not a drug. Hemp contains very low levels of the psychoactive compound THC,
01:38meaning it can't get you high. Instead, it has higher concentrations of cannabidiol,
01:43or CBD, known for its potential therapeutic effects such as reducing anxiety, pain and
01:49inflammation. CBD is mainly derived from the plant's flowering parts, known as inflorescence.
01:55Producers say the flowers are a vital part of a supply chain that ranges from
02:00food and textiles to cosmetics. An Italian trade group told Reuters there are some 3,000
02:06companies in Italy's hemp industry, with 10,000 full-time employees. It has an annual turnover
02:12of around 500 million euros, with about 90% of the local product exported.
02:19For Silvio Saraceni, the owner of a cannabis-like shop in Rome, the bill spells economic suicide.
02:27We feel like we're holding our breath, he said. We're unable to think about the future
02:31or investments because we are in total uncertainty.