Overview on Italian hemp production chain, related productive and commercial activities and legislative framework

摘要

Once a very important crop, the cultivation of hemp has seen a significant reduction in Europe for a long time, but it is now subject to direct payments and promotion initiatives. Italy used to be an important producer and exporter of hemp textiles until the Second World War but currently information is lacking regarding the hemp production chain and legislation on the issue is often misunderstood by producers. Moreover, there has been an important development of economic activities connected with hemp, such as the so-called hemp shops or grow shops and the market of a product called cannabis light, the dried inflorescences of industrial hemp.