Italy’s government has invoked emergency powers to push through a controversial ban on hemp flowers, bypassing parliamentary debate and effectively criminalizing an industry said to be worth nearly €2 billion.
The measure, enacted as a “decree law” last week, reclassifies industrial hemp flower as a narcotic, regardless of its THC content. It renders illegal the cultivation, sale, processing, and possession of hemp flowers and cannabinoids such as CBD across the country.
According to industry groups, the decree threatens 22,000 to 30,000 jobs and could bankrupt over 3,000 businesses. Legal experts and European policymakers say the move likely violates both the Italian Constitution and European Union law.
Bypassing Parliament
The hemp ban originated as Article 18 of Italy’s broader Security Bill, which includes various public safety provisions. A joint committee in the Chamber of Deputies approved the amendment last summer, equating low-THC industrial hemp with high-THC marijuana.
Though the measure had stalled for months amid internal pushback, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government expedited it last week by invoking Article 77 of the Italian Constitution, which allows for decree laws in cases of necessity and urgency. The decree did not return to Parliament for a third reading and became enforceable immediately.
Lawmakers now have 60 days to convert the decree into permanent law. Until then, enforcement is considered temporary, though its impact is already being felt. The final decision rests with President Sergio Mattarella, who may either sign it into law or intervene.
Economic damage
“The reasons for the intervention raise strong doubts of constitutionality, as well as of compatibility with European Union legislation,” according to a statement from attorneys Giacomo Bulleri and Carlo Alberto Zaina, who represent Federcanapa, a national hemp association. “This decree instantly criminalizes an entire agro-industrial sector with no logic, no science, and no transitional period.”
They argue the law is unconstitutional under Article 25(2) due to its vagueness and the lack of legal certainty around which activities are criminalized. They also claim it violates the European Convention on Human Rights and international trade rules by disregarding THC levels and banning non-psychoactive cannabinoids like CBD, CBG, and CBN.
“With this rule, the government is not only regulating a sector: it is destroying an economic reality, annihilating investments that have built a future,” trade group Canapa Sativa Italia said in a statement.
Imprenditori Canapa Italia, another national association, said in a release: “We are faced with an act of unprecedented gravity, which marks a black page for the rule of law, freedom of enterprise and constitutional guarantees.
“With a stroke of the pen, the government has decided to transform thousands of honest entrepreneurs into criminals, guilty only of having exercised a legal profession, paid taxes regularly and created jobs,” the association said, warning that the ban undermines fair competition and invites lawsuits and EU infringement proceedings.
Violation of EU principles
The European Union has upheld the legality of hemp flower and CBD products below 0.3% THC, and said they may be traded among EU countries under free-movement-of-goods principles. In 2020, the European Court of Justice ruled that CBD is not a narcotic, affirming that member states cannot ban its trade without scientific evidence of health risks.
Italy nonetheless enacted a decree in August 2024 classifying oral CBD as a narcotic, restricting sales to pharmacies with non-repeatable prescriptions. That decree was temporarily suspended by the Lazio Regional Administrative Court.
On March 17, 2025, members of the European Parliament’s Petitions Committee debated Italy’s restrictive measures. Italian hemp groups had petitioned the European Commission in 2024, urging it to intervene.
Mattia Cusani of Canapa Sativa Italia told lawmakers, “The courageous hemp traders, who abide by the rules every day and ensure a transparent and safe market, should not fear the state but receive its support.”
The committee issued a formal letter of complaint to Rome, starting a 90-day response period. However, the Commission itself has yet to take concrete action, with officials saying evaluations are ongoing.
Years of legal conflict
The conflict over hemp in Italy dates back several years. In 2016, Italy legalized cultivation of hemp under 0.2% THC, with tolerance up to 0.6%, spurring a boom in the “cannabis light” sector.
However, repeated government attempts to tighten restrictions have followed. In 2022, Italy’s State-Regions Conference reclassified hemp as a medicinal plant, sparking legal challenges that ultimately overturned the move.
Last year, the government issued confusing circulars about CBD’s legality, threatening even cosmetic applications despite CBD being listed in the EU’s Cosing database since 2021.