Cannabis sativa, "the collapse of crops in Sardinia"

From the second report on the cultivation of light cannabis in Sardinia carried out by the Agricultural Studies Center, it emerges that in 2022 the cultivation area collapsed to less than 200 hectares, in 2021 it was about 1,300 (presumed data, specifies the CSA, and from direct information) .

The regional law approved last April, it is underlined, “has served no purpose. The marketing of leaves and inflorescences continues to be illegal "while, underlines Tore Piana, president of the Agricultural Studies Center," the cultivation and sale of cannabis sativa with clear and authorization laws could represent for Sardinia the solution for the economic revival of thousands of companies in areas that are currently at risk of depopulation ".

Until last year, explains the report, "the light cannabis market represented one of the fastest growing sectors and the island is still today the region with the greatest characteristics in terms of cultivation, climate, soils and exposure, elements considered among the best in Europe that ensure that plants can grow with better development of green mass and better quality ". This is why until 2021 there was an exponential growth of cultivated hectares, until the collapse of 2022.

THE PRODUCT - Cultivation allows different purposes depending on the product to be obtained: flours, oil and seeds, fiber in bioplastics, biomass from extraction and the production of inflorescences and leaves of the so-called cannabis light, with the latter three containing CBD today prohibited.

“In Italy and Sardinia - the report continues - there is a vacuum or rather a regulatory gray, which leaves the supervisory bodies to the most varied interpretations. In many cases the inflorescences are produced and sold with the most imaginative destinations of use, not providing the right regulatory guarantee. The biomass from extraction is for pharmaceutical or cosmetic use for the production of extracts or oleolites. But to be able to produce these by-products it is impossible to obtain the authorizations from the farms that cultivate them. This is causing the entire market to move abroad ”.

THE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK - In Italy, the cultivation of cannabis sativa is subject to a dual regulatory regime. Law 242 of 2.12.2016 considers cannabis an agricultural and industrial plant and the reference text almost exclusively governs the cultivation and production of industrial hemp. The law applies only to the varieties admitted in the common catalog of the variety of agricultural plant species obtained through certified seeds. No mention of leaves, inflorescences or anything else, but exclusively the whole plant, sold fresh or dried.

The second norm is indicated in the Narcotic Text, the DPR 309/1990, and establishes for any variety of cannabis, regardless of its THC content and as regards leaves, inflorescences, oils and resins that everything is classified as a drug plant, except for hemp grown exclusively for the production of fibers or for other industrial uses permitted by European regulations.

“None of the Italian regulations explicitly mentions the inflorescences between the usable parts, although they do not explicitly prohibit. This ambiguity is leading to a complexity of interpretations, often contradictory within the ministries involved ”.

REGIONAL LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK - The Sardinia Region has approved the Regional Law 6 of 10 April 2022 and has the objective of supporting and enhancing the territorial hemp supply chain in the context of and in compliance with the rules provided for by national and EU law. "It is immediately clear that they are unhealthy and cannot heal the interpretative doubts provided for by national laws and, on the other hand, a Regional Law cannot modify what is established by national laws".

THE PROPOSALS - For the CSA "it is necessary that the Region of Sardinia, given that we have had an increase in the areas cultivated with cannabis higher in Italy, promotes a strong and concrete action with the National Government, so that they approve clear legislative rules quickly. The Region, through the LAORE Regional Agricultural Assistance Agency, needs to promote a concrete and widespread consultancy action aimed at explaining in detail the situation of the current legislative framework on the cultivation of cannabis. Finally, that the consultation and consultation table that the Councilor for Agriculture announced in April between the Police, Judiciary, Agricultural Category Organizations is immediately convened, to analyze the situation and establish a shared path also for amnesty of the current situation ".

(Unioneonline / ss)