Monopoly on the production of medical cannabis in Italy hinders the development of the market
The regime of monopoly production of therapeutically active cannabis by one of the Italian state structures de facto does not fulfill the functions for which it was introduced, and the lack of production permits for the private market blocks the development of a healthy and competitive production chain.
The governments of a number of economically developed countries of the world are trying to create a monopoly of state structures on the cultivation, processing, and sale of hemp plants with significant therapeutic potential. How much this kind of practice slows down the development of the cannabis market can be seen, at least superficially, by analyzing the market for therapeutically active cannabis in Italy.
While Italy is one of the largest markets for medical cannabis in Europe, new data show the continued failure of its government system to "serve the needs of patients." The Italian market for medical cannabis has been growing by double-digit percentage points for a number of years, but the country continues to watch with great skepticism its military, which maintains a monopoly on the cultivation of therapeutically active plants domestically.
As domestic production of the armed forces has not grown since 2019, this monopoly is stifling the growth of one of the most promising markets for medical cannabis in Europe, which is currently one of the largest in terms of the number of patients in the EU.
The data received from the Italian Ministry of Health clearly demonstrate that despite the fact that the demand within the country is growing every year, the national product satisfies only a small part of the market.
Distribution of medical cannabis in pharmacies in Italy
Compared to 1400 kg of therapeutically active hemp raw materials, which the Italian Ministry of Health estimates as a national need for 2021, the military department managed to cover only 8% of the 1271 kg of hemp plant leaves and inflorescences sold in the same year.
Commentary of the specialists of the “Ukrainian Industrial Hemp Association”
The regime of monopoly production of therapeutically active cannabis by one of the Italian state structures de facto does not fulfill the functions for which it was introduced, and the lack of production permits for the private market blocks the development of a healthy and competitive production chain.
Following the launch of the medical cannabis program, the Italian government only allowed its military to start national cultivation of the plant with significant therapeutic potential in 2015 as part of a project designed to "fully meet the growing needs of Italian patients." So far, only five companies have been licensed to distribute medical cannabis in Italy. To deal with the apparent inability of domestic production, Italian officials are using cyclical structural imports of medical cannabis, primarily from Holland (≈900 kg imported in 2021). A small amount of therapeutically active cannabis is imported by Canada and Australia. Despite this, throughout the country there are big problems in regular supplies and a constant shortage of therapeutically active hemp raw materials.
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