Is CBD legal in Italy? The answer depends entirely on the product. Topical creams and cosmetics containing CBD are legal and widely sold. Oral CBD oils, tinctures, and edibles have been effectively banned from retail since April 2025 and are now available only through a prescription. Hemp flowers and their derivatives, once sold openly as “cannabis light,” were outlawed by emergency decree in April 2025. Medical cannabis is legal with a doctor’s prescription through Italy’s National Health System. The rules shifted sharply in 2025, and enforcement still varies by region.
Topical CBD Cosmetics Are Legal
Creams, balms, and lotions containing CBD are the most legally stable category in Italy. They fall under EU Cosmetic Regulation (EC) No. 1223/2009, which governs cosmetics across the bloc.1European Commission. Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on Cosmetic Products To be sold legally, a CBD cosmetic must be safe under normal use and its label must show the responsible person’s name and address, a full ingredients list, a batch number, an expiration date, and any precautions for use.
Many manufacturers now formulate topicals with synthetic CBD rather than plant-derived extracts. That choice sidesteps the variable THC content of hemp extracts and the tightening rules around them. You can find CBD topicals in Italian pharmacies, beauty shops, and department stores, and the 2025 enforcement wave has not touched this category.
Oral CBD Oils and Supplements Are Effectively Banned
Buying CBD oil, tinctures, or edible supplements over the counter in Italy is no longer a realistic option. In August 2023, the Ministry of Health under Minister Orazio Schillaci reinstated a decree classifying CBD oil as a narcotic substance, which would have restricted it to pharmacies. Industry groups challenged the decree before Italy’s regional administrative court (TAR), and in October 2023 the TAR blocked enforcement for lack of supporting scientific evidence, keeping retail sales alive for about 18 months.2Business of Cannabis. Italy’s Hemp Industry Dealt 2nd Major Blow as CBD Oil Classified as Narcotic
In April 2025, the TAR rejected the industry’s appeal. The result is that Italy has effectively banned the retail sale of oral CBD products marketed as food or supplements. The restriction applies to all oral compositions of CBD extracted from the cannabis plant, whether the extract comes from flowers, leaves, or stalks. Oral CBD is now limited to prescription-only medicines.2Business of Cannabis. Italy’s Hemp Industry Dealt 2nd Major Blow as CBD Oil Classified as Narcotic
EU-level food rules point the same way. The European Commission treats CBD as a novel food under Regulation (EU) 2015/2283, meaning any food product containing CBD requires safety assessment and pre-market authorization before it can be legally sold.3European Food Safety Authority. Frequently Asked Questions: Cannabidiol No CBD novel food application has been approved. The Commission has actually been closing procedures rather than approving them, terminating at least ten CBD authorization files in February and March 2026 alone without updating the Union list of novel foods.4European Commission. Decisions Terminating the Procedure – Food Safety
Hemp Flowers and Cannabis Light
Low-THC hemp flowers were for years one of Italy’s most visible CBD products, sold as collector’s items or room fragrances in a legal twilight. That market ended in April 2025.
The Meloni government issued Decree Law 48/2025, an emergency measure that banned the production and marketing of industrial hemp inflorescences and their derivatives outright. The decree applies narcotics-level criminal penalties to hemp operators selling flowers, even when the plants come from EU-certified seed varieties with THC well below legal limits.5European Parliament. Adoption of Decree-Law No 48 of 11 April 2025 The European Commission has questioned whether the decree is compatible with EU single-market rules, since EU regulations authorize cultivation and commerce of certified low-THC hemp.
As of early 2026, enforcement is uneven. Some regional prefectures apply the ban actively, others less so. Hemp industry associations have filed challenges in the Italian Constitutional Court arguing the decree violates proportionality, EU law supremacy, and the right to conduct economic activity. Several challenges have been accepted for review, and no final resolution has issued. If you see cannabis light products on shelves, their legal status depends on which region you are in and how local authorities read the pending litigation.
THC Limits in Italian Law
Law 242/2016 sets Italy’s hemp framework. The domestic THC limit for cultivated hemp is 0.2%, with a built-in tolerance up to 0.6% if the higher level results from natural growing conditions rather than the farmer’s intent. Above 0.6%, authorities can order the crop seized or destroyed.6USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. Italy: Italian Industrial Hemp Overview 2023 Certified seed varieties must come from the EU’s Common Catalogue of Varieties of Agricultural Plant Species.7European Commission. Plant Variety Catalogues, Databases and Information Systems
The EU raised its own hemp THC threshold from 0.2% to 0.3% through Regulation (EU) No. 1307/2013 as amended. Italy’s domestic law still references 0.2%, a gap the Italian government has not formally resolved. Some Italian enforcement authorities apply the stricter 0.2% standard, while the EU framework permits 0.3%. That gap has become a flashpoint in litigation over the 2025 crackdowns and matters at the border, where products legal in another EU country can still draw scrutiny in Italy.
Medical Cannabis Prescriptions
Pharmaceutical-grade cannabis is legal in Italy through the medical system, entirely separate from the retail CBD market. Any licensed physician can prescribe it, regardless of specialty. The prescription must be a non-repeatable magistral preparation, meaning a pharmacist compounds it fresh from dronabinol or cannabis-based plant material.
Under Law 172/2017, medical cannabis is reimbursable through Italy’s National Health System (SSN) for a defined list of conditions:
- Chronic pain, potentially any type of pain therapy
- Multiple sclerosis pain and muscle spasms
- Cachexia, including severe weight loss associated with anorexia, HIV, or chemotherapy
- Chemotherapy side effects such as nausea and loss of appetite
- Glaucoma
- Tourette syndrome
Prescribing doctors must submit anonymous patient data to regional health authorities, including age, sex, dosage by weight, and treatment details.
CBD and Driving in Italy
This is where regular CBD users face the most practical risk. A 2024 amendment to Article 187 of the Highway Code removed the previous requirement of proving “psycho-physical impairment” for drug-driving offenses. Under the amended language, detection of a narcotic substance in your system while driving was itself enough for conviction. For someone using full-spectrum CBD that contains trace THC, a positive drug test could theoretically trigger charges without any actual intoxication.
The penalties: a fine of €1,500 to €6,000, imprisonment from six months to one year, license suspension of one to two years, and confiscation of the vehicle. If the vehicle belongs to someone else and cannot be confiscated, the license suspension doubles.
Two developments have narrowed the risk. A government circular issued in April 2025 clarified that to charge someone under Article 187, authorities must establish the substance “is still producing its effects on the body while driving,” reintroducing something like an impairment requirement through administrative guidance. In January 2026, the Constitutional Court ruled in decision No. 10/2026 that Article 187 can only punish driving that actually creates a danger to road safety, not conduct that is completely harmless.8LaPresse News. Consultation: Driving Under the Influence of Drugs Is Punishable Only If It Creates Danger If you use CBD in Italy and drive, choose THC-free formulations. A positive test creates legal problems even if you eventually prevail.
Possession, Testing, and Administrative Penalties
Buying CBD products in Italy generally requires you to be at least 18. Products are sold in specialized hemp shops, pharmacies, and traditional herbalist stores (erboristerie), though the range at each has narrowed since the 2025 enforcement actions.
Keep purchases in original sealed packaging and hold onto your receipt. If law enforcement questions a product, they may confiscate it for laboratory THC testing, which can take weeks.
Personal possession of controlled substances in Italy is not a criminal offense but carries administrative sanctions under Article 75 of DPR 309/90. These can include suspension of your driver’s license, firearms license, passport, and residence permit. Duration depends on how the substance is classified: 2 months to 1 year for List I or III substances, and 1 month to 3 months for List II or IV substances. A formal warning may replace the suspension for a first offense considered particularly minor.9European Union Drugs Agency. Penalties for Drug Law Offences at a Glance
Possession with intent to distribute is a different matter, prosecuted as a criminal offense under Article 73 of DPR 309/90 with prison time attached. Carrying commercial-looking quantities, or products outside their retail packaging, raises the risk of the more serious classification.
Bringing CBD Into Italy
If you are traveling to Italy with CBD, the safest approach is to bring topicals only and leave flowers, resins, and oils at home. Hemp flowers and resins are the highest-risk category under Decree Law 48/2025, and oral CBD products face their own restrictions after the April 2025 TAR ruling.
Italian customs does not systematically test every traveler’s CBD, but if your items draw attention you will want documentation. Keep everything in original commercial packaging with clear labeling, carry a Certificate of Analysis showing THC below 0.2%, and stick to personal-use quantities. Because Italy applies the 0.2% standard in some enforcement contexts rather than the EU’s 0.3%, products legal elsewhere in Europe can still trigger scrutiny at the Italian border.