The decree-law on security approved by the government has officially entered into force, introducing several innovations including the total prohibition of the so-called Light Cannabis sector. Starting from Saturday 12 April, the cultivation hemp Sativa aimed at sale in stores have become illegal activities, exhibiting farmers and traders to the risk of kidnappings and complaints. A terrible blow to the turnover of this sector, equal to Half billion euros And which gives work on a stable basis to 10 thousand people.
What does article 18 say
Article 18 of the Security Decree establishes the ban on “import, sale, processing, distribution, trade, transport, sending, shipping and delivery of hemp inflorescences”. A measure justified by the need, according to the text, to prevent “behaviors that can put safety or public safety at risk, as well as road safety”.
Starting from Saturday, all agricultural entrepreneurs and traders active in the CRD sector and its derivatives are exposed to the risk of kidnappings and complaints for violation of the consolidated text on drugs, the set of rules that regulate the use and distribution of these substances. The only exception admitted concerns those operating in the florovivaistic sector, and only for the production of seeds. Already in August this situation had come, but in that case the Lazio TAR blocked the ban.
In the meantime, the associations that represent farmers and retailers are receiving a wave of requests for legal advice and practical clarifications on how to move. Many operators, as a precaution, have chosen to suspend productive activities or to temporarily close the points of sale, in an attempt to avoid penalties.
Away to the appeals
The first move is played on the civil front. The entrepreneurs of the sector contest the government violation of the European directive On the transparency of the single market, the so -called Single Market Transparency Directive, number 1535 of 2015. In particular, Article 5 of the Directive requires Member States to notify the European Commission any project of technical rule that can influence commercial exchanges. The goal is to guarantee the protection of the single market: in fact, it is up to Palazzo Berlaymont to inform the other Member States and collect any observations. It is the so -called trio procedure.
Once the notification has been received, article 6 establishes that the adoption of the standard must be suspended for three months. According to hemp associations, however, the Italian government would have ignored this mandatory step, proceeding without the necessary transparency against Brussels. For this reason it was decided to resort to the civil court.
How big the turnover is
The Italian Canapa Entrepreneurs Association had already intervened on the topic last October 24, 2024, during an audition in the Senate. On that occasion he had immediately highlighted the critical issues of the provision, denouncing the lack of distinction between inflorescences containing THC And those with non -psychotropic cannabinoids such as CBD and CBG, the absurdity of a flower considered “legal only if it has seeds” and the absence of transient legislation to manage the stocks already present on the market.
To be in the balance, according to the association, it is a sector that involves approx 30 thousand workers: 10 thousand permanent hires and 20 thousand seasonal, engaged from May to December in the fields for sowing, collection and initial stages of hemp processing. The companies active in the supply chain are about 3 thousand: 1,600 agricultural, 800 stores specialized in Cannabis Light and 600 companies dedicated to transformation.
