The recent decree of 7 August 2023 which wanted to include CBD among narcotic substances, prohibiting its free sale in products for oral use (oils, etc.) was suspended by the Lazio TAR. Therefore, at least until October 24, it will still be possible to freely purchase CBD-containing products from private individuals. That date has been set a hearing which will hopefully definitively clarify the senselessness of considering the cannabidiol in question as a narcotic substance – because it simply is not.
The appeal against the decree that wanted to limit the sale of CBD, limiting it to pharmacies and only upon presentation of a medical prescription, was presented by the association Hemp Entrepreneurs Italy. As we know, it has been accepted, at least until further notice.
The government, in fact, wanted to limit the free sale of CBD even though it had not collected the scientific opinions necessary to determine its possible psychotropic power: it was, as is increasingly evident, a question of an ideological decision which is independent of the objectivity of the facts. Having demonstrated the frivolity with which the decree was issued, a re-examination will be necessary, which this time will have to be linked to measurable scientific data rather than words.
The anti-cannabis decree was not only approved without the opinion of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, but it also goes in contrast with EU jurisprudence, according to which CBD cannot be considered a narcotic or psychotropic substance.
It turns on again the clash between the Brothers of Italy, which through the deputy Riccardo De Corato confirms its positions "against all narcotics" and the growers and sellers of hemp, in many cases hit by real kidnappings of goods that seemed to have become illegal overnight.
It is more than ever it is essential that the final decision is taken on a scientific basis, with factual demonstrations of the benefits of CBD and its possible risks, considered in almost all of the world to be so negligible as to allow free sale to the general public.
