History of cannabis in Italy

[2] The Venetian model was based on a state monopoly system, by which the farmers had to sell the harvested hemp to the Arsenal at an imposed price, in order to ensure preferential, regular, and advantageous supplies of the raw material for the navy, as a matter of national security.

[2] Conversely, the Emilian model, which was typical of the provinces of Bologna and Ferrara, was strongly export-oriented and it was based on the mezzadria farming system by which, for instance, Bolognese landowners could relegate most of the production costs and risks to the farmers, while also keeping for themselves the largest share of the profits.

[10] Furthermore, the analysis of the teeth of 28 females and one male from the same period, revealed evidence of activity-induced dental modifications that are consistent with yarn production, or weaving preparation, of small-diameter threads, which were repeatedly pulled across the fronts and sides of the individuals' upper incisors and canines.

[10] All the examined individuals were buried in an ancient cemetery located in Gricignano di Aversa, in southern Italy, and traces of hemp were also found attached to a metal blade, possibly the remains of a fabric sheath, in the tomb of an adult male within the same site.

[26] In 2018, excavations on the eastern bank of the ancient Natiso cum Turro river of Aquileia, in the area of Venetia et Histria that is now Friuli-Venezia Giulia, revealed the first system of basins from the Roman world that is known to have been used for the maceration of hemp, as inferred from archaeobotanical and archaeo-palynological studies of the site.

[31] In regard to the recreational use of cannabis in the Roman Empire, 2nd century Greek physician and philosopher Claudius Galenus wrote that it was customary in Italia to serve small cannabis-based cakes for dessert, whose seeds would reportedly create a feeling of warmth and increase thirst.

[20][31] Similarly, it has been hypothesized that Pliny probably referenced cannabis when mentioning gelotophyllis (i.e. the leaves of laughter), which he said grew along the Borysthenes river, in Scythia, as well as in Bactria, an ancient country located in the northeastern part of modern-day Afghanistan, or at least in the general area of central Asia.

[44][46] Nevertheless, to maintain favorable prices and ensure steady supplies, especially after losing their trading posts on the Black Sea to the Republic of Genoa, Venice further imported hemp mainly from Emilia, and to a lesser extent the Marches, Piedmont, and the Middle East, while also incentivizing its own domestic production.

[35] The trade of these canapari mainly consisted in the production of hemp twines and ropes, as well as possibly wickers, sacks, and rough textiles; and the spiritual life of the community centered around the small church of Santa Maria in Cannapara, which derived its name from said activities and was also located among the porticoes of the Basilica, until its demolition in the 16th century.

[35] To the present day, hemp is still being used in the area around Sant'Arcangelo di Romagna to produce textiles such as blankets, pillowcases, and tablecloths, decorated with copper stamps in the traditional green and rust colors, through a centuries-old artisan process that first requires a heavy mangle to smoothen and soften the initially rough and rigid hand-woven fabric.

[86] In particular, the lands surrounding the town are rich in water, which flowed along a multitude of streams and rivulets, while the predominantly stony grounds caused the local hemp to acquire a pure white color, which made it particularly sought-after in all contemporary markets, and especially by Roman noblewomen.

[96] Nevertheless, as the bull specifically mentions people falling prey to incantations, spells, conjurations, and other accursed charms and crafts, recreational cannabis could have still been banned possibly due to its mind-altering effects being seen at the time either as the external action of supernatural entities, or as a sign of spiritual corruption.

[102]The Republic of Genova was particularly protectionist in regard to its paper industry, in particular it forbade master craftsmen to emigrate, thus safeguarding its trade secrets; and made the export of any type of rag or papermaking tool illegal, thus ensuring the supply of essential raw materials and equipments.

[109] The biological samples were recovered from the crypt of the Ospedale Maggiore di Milano, in a section of the church of the hospital that was used to bury the deceased patients from 1638 to 1697;[109] therefore, the studied individuals lived in the context of a severe social decline brought about by the Great Plague of Milan, which almost halved the city population between 1629 and 1631.

[114][115] In particular, the thick leather covering consists of four longitudinal slices alternately vernished with the colors of Florence (i.e. white and red), and made of eight triangular sections that are manually sewn together using hemp strings, while multiple internal layers of canvas make the ball as non-deformable as possible.

[129][130] At the time, Italian farmers were said to sow hemp on their best lands, which are rich, strong loams, on which they are at all possible pains to procure a fine friable surface, while using for manure a mixture of dung, pieces of rotten cloth, feathers, and horns, brought from Dalmatia.

[132][133] Furthermore, following a Navy Board inspection of the Chatham and Portsmouth ropeyards on 4 November 1823, a more extended use of Italian hemp was recommended, particularly for lines and twines, to counter the monopoly that Russia held in the country at the time, while it was reckoned that the higher cost of the fiber would be recouped by its longer duration.

[131] Furthermore, as an example of the resources needed just for the rigging of a navy ship, a total of 34 mi (55 km) of Italian hemp rope, 3 long tons (6,720 lb; 3,048 kg) of spun yarn, 300 yd (274 m) of canvas, and over 200 imp gal (909 L) of tar were used in 1964 for the re-rigging of HMS Victory.

[143] Elsewhere in the world, one of the main suppliers for gallows ropes across the United States during the second half of the 19th century was the Edwin H. Fitler cordage manufacturing business in the Bridesburg neighborhood of Philadelphia, PA; and employee Godfrey Boger in particular was specialized in their production for the company from 1854 onwards.

[163] Nevertheless, the first scientific studies on the medical use of cannabis were carried out by Irish doctor William Brooke O'Shaughnessy in 1839, when he administered cannabis-based medicine to patients suffering from various diseases, ranging from epilepsy to rheumatism, and noticed an anticonvulsant, analgesic, and antiemetic efficacy.

[177] As an example, while visiting the hemp-producing center of Casoria during the flowering period, Dr. Valieri personally tested and documented the effects of the released pollen after receiving reports that local farmers could not rest in the vicinity of the blooming hemp plants, or even sleep in farmhouses located in the middle of the fields.

[163] Similarly to the reports heard by Dr. Valieri regarding the hemp fields in Casoria, the Medical-Surgical Society of Bologna was notified of a comparable condition, initially designated as summer fever due to its periodical occurrence, that affected especially young people and outdoor workers in the late 1800s.

[179] Lasting a few days, the symptoms included lack of appetite, headache, fatigue, skin rashes, fleeting joint and muscle pain, and occasionally mild epistaxis and diarrhea; and all these could be aggravated by the accompanied sudden increase in body temperature, sometimes surpassing 40 °C (104 °F), at the end of which the fever spontaneously remissed.

[183] In any case, the section of the 1925 Opium Convention dealing with cannabis represented a compromise, in which the signatories were committed to limit exclusively to medical and scientific purposes the manufacture, import, sale, distribution, export and use of extracts and tinctures of Indian hemp.

[181] The transformations brought about by the French Revolution and the following conflicts during the late 18th – early 19th century, marked the end of protectionist Italian hemp sectors such as those implemented in the Kingdom of Piedmont and the Republic of Venice, which had created privileged manufactures supported by the State according to a Colbertist model.

[140]The hemp plants were harvested between the end of July and the beginning of August, either manually or mechanically, after which the stalks were left on the ground to dry, to be then bundled together, stacked into large rafts, weighed down using heavy stones, and immersed into open-air tanks filled with soft water.

[252] At the agricultural stage, the hemp production cycle committed every member of the family of a mezzadro, and it generally involved soil preparation and manuring in November, hoeing and sowing between February and March, weeding in April, harvesting and maceration in August, and schutching and further processing in September.

[254] Nevertheless, the Radical Party led by Marco Pannella successfully campaigned for a referendum that repealed criminal penalties for the personal use of soft drugs in 1993,[256] and thus the concept of average daily dose was eliminated, while the judicial discretion on a case-by-case basis was re-established.

[265] The subsequent response from the European Commission referred to Council Regulation (EC) 1467/94 of 20 June 1994, whose objectives are to help ensure and improve the conservation, characterisation, documentation, evaluation and use of potentially valuable plant and animal genetic resources in the Community.

[253] Furthermore, to make the operation commercially viable, farmers and technicians had to determine the properties of the different sections of the hemp plants; develop effective mechanical processes to clean and separate the various parts of the stem; and assess the quality of the produced fiber, when compared to the readily available French varieties, especially in regard to their most valuable applications in the textile market.