Italy: Army unveils 'cut-price cannabis' farm

[Redheart]

Italy: Army unveils 'cut-price cannabis' farm - BBC News

The Italian army has unveiled its first cannabis farm, set up to try to lower the cost of medical marijuana in the country.

The army's foray into cannabis production was first announced by the government in September, and its first crop is coming along nicely, the Corriere della Sera website reports. The plants are being grown in a secure room at a military-run pharmaceutical plant in Florence, and the army expects to churn out 100kg (220lb) of the drug annually. The site also houses drying and packing facilities. "The aim of this operation is to make available to a growing number of patients a medical product which isn't always readily available on the market, at a much better price for the user," Col Antonio Medica tells the website. Medical marijuana is considered beneficial to treat a variety of conditions, particularly for managing chronic pain.

While Italian doctors can legally prescribe the drug, the cost isn't covered by the state. It is often prohibitively expensive for patients to buy it legally at pharmacies, something ministers want to change. At the moment medical marijuana is imported from abroad - primarily from the Netherlands - and costs up to 35 euros per gram. "We're aiming to lower the price to under 15 euros, maybe even around 5 euros per gram," says Col Medica. Private cannabis cultivation remains illegal in Italy, and selling the drug is also against the law.

 

[kana_marie]

When it was illegal here, you could get a qtr for 25$. But now that its legal 25$ won't even get you the paper to wrap it in. Shouldn't things be cheaper now that they're legal? I mean every key is either growing or smoking. It's readily available with risking jail time... Just sayin'...

 

[missbishi]

Whilst it's certainly a commendable effort, I have to question why the army are carrying this task out? Shouldn't it be carried out using Goevernment funds rather than those allocated to the military?

 

[kana_marie]

The states that have gone legal have made an insane amount of money from the weed market. Maybe the military is hoping the Sam thing will work out for them.

 

[vegito12]

I think this will be beneficial for people who have medical problems like cancer or back pain and this farm grown cannabis could be used to cure them or lessen the pain they are suffering from. The costs may be less if this works out and the black market will not be used that much and the army will be able to regulate the cannabis and also can see what sort of people are buying the drug and not give it to people who will misuse it. I hope we see more news on this, and it should work really well and also the government should be doing, this but the army is doing it and quite surprising as well that it is done by them.

 

[DancingLady]

I do not lithe use of marijuana as medication, but that's just an opinion of course. I would like to know if society had any issues with pot heads and driving while under the influence before they legalized it. Where I live it had been easily accessible for recreational use for decades, and we used had these problems. Many businesses don't even drug test because they couldn't keep a staff if they did. These issues are only getting worse with the medical marijuana becoming more prevalent.

 

[Corzhens]

Excuse me but is that the Italian army cultivating the marijuana farm? What is happening there, are they going out of their minds? That plant may be legal to them especially if the alibi is for medical marijuana but my question is why the need for the army to till the farm. Aren't there other groups to do that? The army is for fighting and not planting marijuana.

 

[LilAnn]

Maybe it's like someone else said... Maybe it's to get the money. I think it's a great idea!! The military is a priority for good reason, but the more money the government puts into the military the less they have to use on the citizens. If they can make a few million by cultivating and selling, what could be wrong with that?