Slovenia and Albania Legalize Medical Cannabis. Meanwhile, Italy Clamps Down

While Italy reclassifies CBD as a narcotic and burdens patients with new restrictions, Slovenia and Albania take a progressive step forward by legalizing medical cannabis.

Two very different countries, yet both have recognized the therapeutic potential of cannabis and decided to act. And Italy? Still stuck in fear, ideology, and political inertia.

📍 Slovenia: A New Law for Medical Cannabis

The Slovenian Parliament has approved legislation that legalizes medical cannabis, making it available through the national healthcare system.

According to Aduc, the new law allows:

Doctors to prescribe cannabis-based treatments
Authorized and monitored domestic cultivation
Distribution through official medical channels

A clear, patient-focused approach that aims to remove stigma and offer real therapeutic options.

📍 Albania: Legal Cannabis for Production and Export

In 2023, Albania passed a law allowing the production, processing, and export of medical and industrial cannabis. The law took effect in 2024 and established a state agency to oversee licensing and quality control.

✔️ Regulated foreign investment
✔️ Controlled domestic production
✔️ Economic development for agricultural zones

Once seen as conservative on drug policy, Albania is now embracing cannabis as a therapeutic and economic resource.

🇮🇹 Italy: Back to Repression

Italy’s recent moves show the opposite trend:

The “Decreto Sicurezza 2025” bans all sales of cannabis light flowers, leaves, and resin—even with < 0.2% THC
The Regional Administrative Court (TAR) of Lazio confirmed that oral CBD oil must be classified as a narcotic
Now even CBD requires a non-repeatable medical prescription from a physician

This isn’t regulation. It’s prohibition dressed in bureaucracy.

👥 What About Italian Patients?

Here’s the reality for people who rely on medical cannabis in Italy:

Long waiting times for prescriptions
Shortages in galenic pharmacies
High costs for those without coverage
Fear of being judged or criminalized

On paper, cannabis is allowed for therapeutic use. In practice, it’s a right denied or only granted to the privileged few.

📌 Did you know?

CBD is sold freely in most EU countries. In Italy, a bottle of CBD oil now requires a special prescription
Italy imports medical cannabis from abroad—while criminalizing its own production
Medical cannabis is legal in theory, but still treated like a taboo

🌍 European Map: Who’s Moving Forward?

🇩🇪 Germany: Legalization of recreational cannabis underway
🇸🇮 Slovenia: New medical cannabis law passed
🇦🇱 Albania: Legal for production and export under state control
🇮🇹 Italy: Criminalization of CBD, regression in patient access

Result? Italian patients are left behind—health-wise and in basic human dignity.

🎯 Conclusion: Health Has No Borders—But Politics Builds Them

Medical cannabis isn’t a trend. It’s a science-backed treatment that improves lives. Slovenia and Albania show it’s possible to move forward. Italy, on the other hand, is walking backward.

As long as fear governs policy, patients will suffer and society will stay in the dark.

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