Cannabis, thousands of signatures but there is no shortage of fears

The debate on legalization. Over 550 thousand people have joined the referendum request

SASSARI. Almost 550,000 Italians have put their name and surname on paper to ask for the legalization of cannabis. An enormity that perhaps surprised the very promoters of the referendum. It is very probable – also following the extension for the delivery of signatures by the government – that the country will be called to pronounce itself in the spring of 2022, which is already a candidate to be the new season of rights, given that the referendum on euthanasia will also take place. legal.

Two different questions, however, underlined Micaela Morelli, professor of Biological and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Cagliari, because if the one on the end of life “concerns only individual freedoms”, she wrote yesterday in the New, the referendum on cannabis “sees implications that cannot be separated from specific medical knowledge.” For the neurobiologist, the risk is given by the fact that by allowing the use of cannabis preparations that allow the intake of its active ingredients through smoking and vaporization, a predictable and reproducible dosage is not ensured. In short, according to Morelli, without adequate controls “soft drugs could easily become hard drugs.”

The pharmacist. But, in reality, as far as therapeutic use is concerned, the effects of liberalization would be minimal, if not nil. This is supported by Cristina Porcu, owner of the pharmacy of the same name in Cagliari, a pioneer of medical cannabis in Sardinia. «The first time I imported the synthetic thc was in 2009 for a patient of the sclerosis center of Cagliari. I remember that I warned the Nas ». Yes, because medical cannabis has been legal in Italy since 2007, but it is not easy to find.

“Unfortunately in Italy there is only one problem: the supply of raw materials. Cannabis is a deficient drug – explains the pharmacist -. The pilot project, which sees the military pharmaceutical chemical plant of Florence as the only one authorized for the production of cannabis, did not bring the desired results in terms of production. So we are forced to import from abroad, first from Holland and lately from Canada through the SCFM. The import does not concern the single pharmacy, but there is a long process and the last word belongs to the ministry, which unfortunately satisfies less than half of what is real needs. Do you know what’s going on? That pain therapy lasts for two months and then has to stop, that the patient who had had a normal life for two months is forced to go back not because of a withdrawal syndrome but because of the lack of the drug. Perhaps legalization could have positive effects only if they authorized the cultivation according to all the trappings, according to the rules of good cultivation and good manufacture of medicines. Then yes you would take a leap. Although – he adds – perhaps it would be enough for the ministry or AIFA to authorize with a dedicated provision, ten producers that guarantee safety and pharmaceutical quality, so as to put an end to the shortage that many Sardinian patients suffer, in the face of a drug, cannabis, reimbursed. by the regional health system “.

The agronomist. He is in line with what Morelli said about the therapeutic use of cannabis. “It is up to the competent bodies to give indications and ensure controls”, argues Giacomo Patteri, an agronomist who has been working in the cannabis sector for years, who however also underlines the extent of the popular request to legislate on an issue that has so far only gone on to shots of bans.

“If today in Italy about 550 thousand people have bothered to ask for a referendum, it means that there must be some change. The legislation is old, even with regard to cannabis with a low thc content, for which cultivation is now allowed. Those who signed are aware that prohibition has failed and that it would be better for the state to create ad hoc structures to allow and regulate the use, obviously assisted by technicians and scholars. I do not think there are drug dealers or smugglers among those who signed for the referendum – the only ones to get rich in this situation – but fathers and mothers who prefer that their child has the possibility to buy controlled material, rather than turn to environments that encourage him to switch to heavier, more profitable and harmful products ».

Patteri is also convinced that legalization can help the low thc hemp market. “Today anyone who cultivates risks being equated with a trafficker and judged according to 309. Not only is a less prohibitionist law needed, but a law that enters into the merits of the various nuances of the matter, with the support of doctors and researchers for the therapeutic and technicians who deal with hemp at 360 degrees, only the synergy between these skills can make Italy take a step forward in terms of rights and business ».