Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Thursday 4 July 2019

Italy’s ‘cannabis light’ creates buzz even if the pot won’t

By ALESSIA MELCHIORRE two light cannabis shops
COLLEEN BARRY in central Italy that police
Associated Press shut down on suspicion of
ROME (AP) — It’s been drug trafficking. An inves-
called the Italian “green tigating judge threw out
gold rush.” Mild, barely charges against the owner.
there marijuana dubbed Similar cases had resulted
“cannabis light” has put in conflicting verdicts on
Italy on the international whether the shops could
weed map, producing operate legally.
hundreds of stores that sell The Supreme Court’s ruling
pot by the pouch and at- summed up the contradic-
tention from investors bank- tions of cannabis light. The
ing the legalization of stron- court said the 2016 hemp
ger stuff will follow. law and its upper THC limit
The flourishing retail indus- did not apply to cannabis
try around cannabis light leaves, buds or other spin-
- weed so non-buzzy, it’s es- offs from hemp plants. Sell-
sentially the decaf coffee ing them remained illegal
of marijuana - surfaced as in Italy “unless such prod-
an unintended by-product ucts are in practice devoid
of a law meant to restore In this Thursday, June 6, 2019 photo shows a cannabis light store in Rome. of a doping effect.”
Italy as a top producer of Associated Press The next day, police per-
industrial hemp. Now, store- the shops open and their active compound in mari- The hemp law that took ef- formed a “precautionary
fronts that peddle chemi- owners from losing money. juana that causes a high. fect 2 ½ years ago permit- seizure” of Green Planet
cally ineffective hemp flow- “I closed a pizzeria to open Hemp and marijuana are ted sales of cosmetics and and two other stores in
ers in varieties such as “Chill this store. Now, they want the same plant, but scien- products made with hemp. Caserta to test if the can-
Haus” and “Black Buddha” us to go bankrupt,” Magini tists classify dry plants with Gift boutiques, corner mar- nabis light they were selling
are getting blowback that told Italian news agency no more than 0.3% THC as kets and stand-alone grow was a legal non-high or car-
some Italians fear will nip ANSA. “It’s as if to fight al- hemp. In the 28-country shops soon stocked can- ried illegal high-giving ca-
business in the bud. coholism, the sale of non- European Union, of which nabis-infused pasta, olive pacity. Local magistrates
Italy’s highest court cloud- alcoholic beer is banned.” Italy is a member, the cut- oil and gelato, but also jars let Green Planet reopen
ed the climate four weeks The commotion reflects the off is 0.2%. A December and bags of “light” buds. after two weeks, which in-
ago by ruling it was illegal lag in Europe’s pro-marijua- 2016 Italian law, however, Since marijuana still was il- cluded the several its own-
to market hemp-derived na movement compared set a domestic ceiling three legal, producers labeled er spent outside chained
products that weren’t “in to the recreational use times higher than that to the products as “collec- to the gated door in pro-
practice devoid” of the frontiers of North America. give hemp farmers leeway tor’s items” not intended test. Results must come
power to provide a per- The coffee shops in Amster- for natural variations result- for consumption. back from THC tests on his
ceptible high. Sporadic dam where tourists have ing from cultivation, ac- Rolling papers and glass confiscated products be-
testing and customer re- gone since the late 1970s cording to Stefano Masini, pipes storekeepers might fore he can sell cannabis
views suggested cannabis to purchase pot in public a spokesman for Italy’s Col- display nearby advertised light again.Police raids in
light outlets sold weed that never took off outside the diretti agriculture lobby. otherwise. other cities have cannabis
weak. The law-and-order Netherlands. While more Although 0.6% is just over “To say it is for collectors producers and sellers wor-
interior minister nonethe- than 30 European coun- the THC concentration re- doesn’t mean a thing,” ried. They are waiting to
less declared war on the tries have laws allowing quired for hemp to become Coldiretti’s Masini said. “If see if the Supreme Court’s
shops with neon leaf logos medical marijuana in some marijuana in a botanist’s you can sell something that full opinion, due by July
last month, vowing to close form, patient advocates book, Italian regulators as- can be eaten or inhaled, 30, clarifies if they have a
them “street by street, shop complain of high prices sumed it was too low to obviously the use is some- green light to keep mining
by shop” nationwide. and inadequate supplies. have a mind-altering effect thing different.” the gold rush until the nov-
“It is neither possible nor ac- Enter “la cannabis light,” and its related consumer Even so, cannabis light is a elty of cannabis light wears
ceptable that in Italy there the catchy name Italians appeal. Entrepreneurs in far cry from the legal weed off or more liberal laws
are 1,000 shops where have for cannabis sativa a country with a lackluster with THC levels of 5% to 35% clear the way for heavier
there are drugs legally, plant derivatives with low economy nonetheless saw that adults can buy for rec- marijuana on store shelves.
in broad daylight. This is levels of THC, the psycho- an opportunity. reational use at licensed In other parts of Europe,
disgusting,” said Matteo dispensaries in some parts changing attitudes on mar-
Salvini, who made keep- of the U.S. A Seattle blog- ijuana planted across the
ing migrants out of Italy a ger accustomed to the Atlantic might find fertile
primary focus after taking high-octane marijuana in ground.. The government
office a year ago. Some Washington state called that took over in Luxem-
business owners are ready Italy’s cannabis light “faux bourg in November was
to fight back. The owner of weed” after smoking some the first in Europe to legal-
Green Planet in the south- in Rome and feeling noth- ize recreational marijuana.
ern city of Caserta chained ing. Other reviewers have Switzerland, which is not an
himself to the fence around described a slight relaxing EU member, allows can-
his locked shop this month effect. THC content - or nabis light with up to 1%
after a raid in which police more precisely, how much THC to be sold like tobac-
seized 16 grams of can- it takes to get stoned - was co. In Spain, cannabis so-
nabis light. Gioel Magini, considered by Italy’s Su- cial clubs are sprouting up
the owner of a Cannabis preme Court of Cassation since drug laws prohibiting
Amsterdam Store franchise In this Thursday, June 6, 2019 photo, biscuits and other products in the May 30 decision that marijuana possession are
in Sanremo, proposed a are displayed at a Cannabis light store, in Rome. alarmed the cannabis light rarely enforced against ca-
class-action lawsuit to keep Associated Press industry. The case involved sual users.q