Italy CBD Ban: How the Government Destroyed My Business and Thousands of Others

Six years of hard work.
Six years of building a legal business, following every rule, paying every tax.

And now, thanks to the new Italy CBD ban, CBDexpress — the company I helped building — has to shut down.

Here’s what this means:

3 employees fired
130 vending machines turned off
Thousands of customers abandoned
Hundreds of thousands of euros in investments wiped out

We are not criminals.
We are Italians.
All under 45.
All taxpayers.

But in a country where public healthcare is collapsing, salaries are stagnant, bills are crushing families and businesses, and the birth rate keeps falling, what did the government decide was urgent?

Destroying the legal hemp industry.

Mission accomplished.
Sector estimates say over 11,000 workers will lose their jobs.
Hundreds of entrepreneurs, like me, are being forced into bankruptcy.
Millions in investments are evaporating overnight.

In our greenhouses, plants used to bloom. Now we’re left with the heavy burden of lease contract and ideas of pivoting the only employee left to growing cucumbers (?!)

No scientific basis, no warning: just destruction

Let’s be clear: the government destroyed years of hard work with a sudden decree, based on no scientific evidence.

After personally investing €35,000 — and nearly €1 million as a company — to build the #1 CBD vending machine network in Italy, we were wiped out overnight.
No notice.
No dialogue.
Just the brutal elimination of an entire legal industry.

The Italy CBD ban is not only irrational — it is a betrayal of thousands of young Italians who believed in building something honest within their own country.

Easy targets, devastating consequences

The Italy CBD ban didn’t target criminals.
It targeted us — regular companies who operated legally.

The CBD we sold was non-psychoactive, with THC levels lower than chamomile tea, as confirmed by Italy’s Supreme Court.
Yet, it was suddenly branded a threat to public order.

Meanwhile, alcohol and tobacco — responsible for 17,000 and 80,000 deaths per year respectively in Italy (source: Istituto Superiore di Sanità) — remain legal and State-protected.
CBD, which has never caused a single direct death in human history, is banned.

Alcohol and tobacco kill thousands every year in Italy.
CBD has never caused a single death.
Yet only CBD is banned.
Where is the logic?

Even the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized cannabis for its therapeutic uses, calling on all nations to revise their prohibitionist policies.
In 2022, the United Nations officially asked Italy to align drug policies with human rights standards.
Italy did the opposite.

A €2 Billion Industry Wiped Out

In the rest of the world, regulated cannabis markets are growing.
Germany, Canada, the U.S., and Latin American countries have shown positive results: more jobs, fewer illegal markets, more tax revenue.

And in Italy?
The Italy CBD ban destroyed a market worth over €2 billion and erased 20,000 jobs in a matter of weeks.

The reason is clear:
Ignorance, fear, and an obsession with control.

Instead of encouraging responsible entrepreneurship, the Italian government — mainly FdI and Lega — chose to create an enemy out of a harmless industry.

As entrepreneur Dan Koe says, “Societies thrive when they empower independent creators.”
The CBD sector was one of the few areas where young Italians were building successful businesses.
Now, it’s gone.

Fighting vending machines and chamomile-strength CBD: finally, Italy’s top priorities are safe under her leadership

Legal Challenges Against the Italy CBD Ban

There is hope.
Several appeals have already been filed at the TAR (Regional Administrative Court) and the Constitutional Court.
Many legal experts argue that the Italy CBD ban is unconstitutional and violates EU regulations on free trade and human rights.

The decree may be overturned — nationally and at the European level.
But the damage it caused will take years to repair.

🌿 With over 15 unique genetics, grown with passion and care directly in our state-of-the-art greenhouses, you can count on selected mother plants to guarantee exceptional results. — Some of our 15 different genetics, grown outside Milan

Final Thoughts

Our story with CBDexpress is just one among thousands.
It shows what happens when a government wages war on its own future.

Instead of supporting innovation and responsible entrepreneurship, Italy chose repression.

But we won’t surrender.

As Howard Schultz once said:

“In times of adversity and change, we really discover who we are and what we’re made of.”

The Italy CBD ban is not just a political mistake.
It’s a test for everyone who dared to build something new.
We will not give up.
We will create again.
And we will prove that resilience beats ignorance — every time.