The “legal marijuana”, derived from hemp and containing a rate of Thc (the psychotropic active substance) of less than 0,2%, already regularly sold for over a year (January 2017) is now increasingly customs cleared. After the law that a year and a half ago made the marketing of this light cannabis possible, which revolutionized the market, now the recognition has also arrived from the Ministry of Agriculture, the Mipaaf, which with a circular - after a year of incessant requests from farmers and associated workers – expressed herself on the rules: producing and selling legal weed is possible, without any more doubts for farmers and traders who have invested in this business in recent months, amidst many uncertainties. The success of light marijuana is due to its relaxing, anti-stress and anti-anxiety effect without contraindications as cannabis with a high Thc content has. It can be smoked or drunk as herbal tea and is not curative.
“The cultivation of hemp – reads the ministerial circular – is allowed without permission, which is required instead if the plant has a THC rate of over 0,2% as required by the European regulation. If the percentage is higher but within the limit of 0,6%, the farmer has no responsibility; if a rate higher than 0,6% is ascertained, the judicial authority can order the seizure or destruction of the hemp crops”.
Now all the subjects who have invested in this business know that they are acting legally, without any shadows: the producers are therefore rejoicing. The last paragraph of the circular then reiterates some points on which producers and growers have been pushing for some time: for example, it prevents imports that are not included in the European catalogue, thus putting a stop to hybrids, crossings and Swiss herbs.
“This is a necessary provision to clarify the possible uses of hemp grown in the horticultural sector in order to fully implement a good law and clarify its scope. In this way we also facilitate control and repression by the relevant bodies”, explains the Deputy Minister of Agriculture Andrea Olivero. The circular also identifies precise rules e stakes to be respected for the various productive sectors where cannabis can be used, or those ranging from food to cosmetics, from industry and craftsmanship to the energy sector and educational activities and industrial research.
The new recognition therefore completely clears a business, the one called della “new hemp economy”, which in the last period has recorded a real boom: it has gone from 400 hectares of cultivated land in 2013 to the estimated almost 4 thousand for 2018. The turnover of "legal marijuana" alone has a potential estimated at over 40 million euros.
Great article! With small steps you really start to regulate the situation well.