The Italian Ministry of Health has had a change of heart regarding its earlier decision to include CBD preparations in its narcotics law.
October 29 marks the day Italy’s Ministry of Health reversed its decision through a decree published in the country’s official Gazette just a day before it would take effect. The proclamation suspends the earlier controversial provision, which would have added CBD formulas to a table of medicines in the Italian narcotics law starting October 30.
On October 15, Italy issued a decree listing hemp-based CBD in the narcotics law’s medicinal profile. The declaration sparked uproar in the industry, with cannabis advocates and stakeholders fearing a disastrous outcome for the country’s industrial hemp industry. The decree was meant to make room for Epidiolex, an innovative CBD-based epilepsy drug manufactured by the UK firm GW Pharmaceuticals, to enter the Italian market.
Federcanapa, an Italian hemp industry association strongly opposed to the CBD listing, had previously mentioned challenging the Health Ministry’s declaration in court. The group did not elaborate on its plan.
The new verdict from the Ministry puts a pause on the previous one pending input from the Ministry’s technical and scientific advisory body, the Italian National Institute of Health.
According to the Thursday decree, the issue (CBD listing) was complicated, necessitating further analysis from a technical and scientific standpoint.
The decree elaborated that the two Ministry of health bodies unanimously approved the decision to add ingestible hemp-derived CBD preparations in “Section B” of the narcotics law.
Section B medicines demand a specific prescription that can’t be utilized multiple times.
CBD preparations in Europe await clarification by the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) regarding international drug control as prescribed by the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.
The CND will vote in December on cannabis recommendations proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO).
