Medicinal Marijuana in Italy

The process of legalization of medicinal marijuana in Italy has been a strange one in which laws have been passed and removed various times, penalizing and delegalizing different forms of cannabis use. The appearance of medicinal marijuana in Italian pharmacies isn’t anything new, and can be bought nowadays with the corresponding prescription.

Medicinal cannabis has been legal in Italy since 2013, but due to the fact that growing it is completely illegal, they had to import it from the Netherlands. This ended up in a lot of paperwork and processes for the product to actually reach the country, which boosted prices to 35 euro per gram.

Medicinal marijuana consumers were forced to pay such high prices due to the fact that growing privately carries a prison sentence in Italy. Those that are found growing or selling marijuana can be fined up to 75,000€ and two to six years in prison. This might seem like excessive punishment, but between 2006 and 2014, marijuana was considered a hard drug and the punishment for growing and selling was the same as drugs like heroin, with a fine of up to 260,000€ and up to 20 years in prison. A sentence given by the Supreme Tribunal states that having one plant at home is not illegal as long as you can prove that it’s for personal use and not for sale, because the conduct of the accused can’t fall under the category of public endangerment. People found with more than one plant can be charged according to the penal code, even if they’re growing for personal use or to use it medicinally, although many people accused of this have managed to get away without a prison sentence.

In September 2015, the Italian government surprised everyone by announcing their plan for the Army to be in charge of growing marijuana to then be used medicinally. Due to not having to import it from other countries, the prices dropped considerably. Prices can be anywhere from between 5 and 15€ per gram, having been almost cut in half so that consumers don’t have to risk it and buy product on the black market.

The Florence Institute of Military Pharmaceuticals is responsible for distributing marijuana in hopes of stopping importations from Holland, although it’s thought that the production rate won’t be enough. Production will most likely stop at approx. 100kg, so they’ll more than likely have to continue importing because 100kg is much less than the number calculated to supply the entire country. Next year the Florence Institute of Military Pharmaceuticals will receive harvests from greenhouses from all over the country every 3 months, with which it hopes to have enough to supply the entire country.

This marijuana is known as FM2, and it has different characteristics; depending on the illness to be treated, the patient will need a different combination of cannabinoids. Patients with chronic pain require a high CBD content to calm their pain without any sort of psychoactive effect. Those that have issues like convulsions, glaucoma, asthma, epilepsy and similar illnesses need a high THC content which is much more useful for treating issues like that.

Pharmacies are in charge of supplying this medicinal marijuana, and it can be found in pharmacies that have filled out the required application form. These pharmacies have stated that they get hundreds of calls and customers a day; patients of all ages are looking for information on how to get medicinal marijuana.

The Ministry of Health insists that the use of medicinal marijuana should be seen as a second option only to be used after other medications that stop having any sort of effect on the patient.

Translation: Ciara Murphy