A potentially chaotic snap election threatens to undermine the Italian cannabis industry while West Coast Ventures Corp. (OTC: WCVC) shows that there has never been a better time to invest in CBD in America
In Italy, the recent government crisis is throwing up scenarios that are difficult to decipher and cannabis businesses are deeply concerned. Returning to the polls means starting from scratch and having practically lost a year. While innovative American companies like West Coast Venture Corp (OTC: WCVC) show that stability can help CBD businesses thrive.
WCVC has been able to take advantage of liberal American CBD regulation to create a marriage made in heaven, CBD and restaurants. The company offers Illegal Brands CBD sachets at all their Illegal Burger and Illegal Pizza locations, along with 30mg CBD water. Part of the company’s mission is to educate consumers about the potential benefits of CBD and it falls right in line with their ethos of healthy local food.
Other companies like WCVC have seen incredible success in the US and liberalization surrounding CBD and cannabis has proved an enormous boon to the American economy. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Europe and Italy.
Back in Italy, among the most worried entrepreneurs there are the producers and distributors of ‘cannabis light’, a sector that in the last two years has seen a strong expansion in Western Liguria, with large investments and the opening of companies and dedicated stores.
“After the ruling of the Court of Cassation on 30 May, the situation is complicated,” explains Gianluca Boeri, light cannabis producer from Taggia and regional president of Coldiretti Liguria.
“We live in a state of continuous uncertainty” – continues Boeri – “where the possibility of sale and production is at the discretion of the various prosecutors. In some cases, such as the recent one of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Parma, we have proceeded with the complaints and preventive seizure of all products derived from light cannabis. In other cases the Public Prosecutor’s Office decided not to implement the seizures.”
This really means that there is a need for a clear regulatory framework that establishes once and for all the possibility or otherwise of selling these products and in what ways.
“With that judgment, the judiciary has taken on a task which it would not be entitled to do. It must be the Ministry of Health to clarify every aspect with a law and a final intervention. But this crisis of government will only delay everything by at least six months,” comments Boeri.
Meanwhile, in the province of Imperia, on the tobacconist’s counter, light cannabis has practically disappeared. “The Italian Tobacconist Federation sent a circular saying to withdraw the goods. In the case of tobacconists, there is a risk of a licence and the consequences can be severe,” says Boeri. “As for the ‘cannabis shops’ – he continues – those who continue to sell do so at their own risk. But since there are no licensing issues, the consequences are less serious.
What is the situation for producers who have invested thousands of euros in their companies in recent years?
“We, and other companies in the province of Imperia, have started production again but in smaller quantities. Moreover, both Law 242 of 2017 and the judgment of the Court of Cassation have never questioned the legitimacy of the production of inflorescences, but this uncertainty about the sale also puts us in great difficulty. Since the production is annual, it is necessarily restarted, also because if the situation should unblock, we must be ready. But this is unsustainable, we risk putting a brake on a sector that was in great expansion,” concludes Boeri.
If Europe doesn’t want to be left behind by America, Canada, and Latin America then Italy, and other Eurozone nations, will have to rapidly update their policies to allow for CBD, cannabis light, and other innovative products, instead of simply putting their heads in the sand.
