Overview
- A Brindisi investigating judge has referred Article 18 of the decreto sicurezza to the Constitutional Court, challenging the ban on hemp flowers regardless of psychoactive effect.
- The ordinance flags three issues: use of an emergency decree without proven urgency, violation of the offensiveness principle by targeting non-THC flower, and potential conflict with EU law.
- The referral stems from a Brindisi port case where several tonnes of cannabis light were seized; a destruction order was halted after an appeal by lawyer Lorenzo Simonetti.
- Separately, Fratelli d’Italia senator Matteo Gelmetti filed a budget amendment to place cannabis light under the customs and monopolies agency, impose a 40% consumption tax, limit sales to tobacconists and licensed cannabis shops, ban advertising and distance sales, and cover vaping liquids up to 0.5% THC.
- The proposal has cleared an initial Palazzo Chigi review as farm and industry groups welcome legal clarity efforts but warn the tax and monopoly model could favor large multinationals over small Italian producers.