A high ambition: Italian Army aims for self-sufficient cannabis market

FLORENCE, Italy — In a bid to become self-sufficient in the field of legal, medical cannabis, Italy is growing plants using secret nutrients in ultra-clean rooms managed with military precision.

No wonder it called in the Army to handle the task.

Next year, the Italian service plans to produce 700 kilograms (1,543 pounds) of top-grade cannabis to cover nearly half of the 1,500 kilograms (3,307 pounds) required annually in the country for those in need of pain relief, such as people with cancer or Parkinson’s disease.

“The next step is self-sufficiency — that’s our ambition,” said Nicola Latorre, who leads the Italian Defence Industries Agency, which oversees the operation. The agency, which is an arm of the Defence Ministry , handles the commercialization of the state’s defense enterprises.

Cannabis the Army cannot yet grow is imported from Holland, Canada, Denmark and Germany, but production is ramping up at an anonymous-looking Army facility on the edge of Florence.

“What we can do in Florence is produce a highly standardized product so the dosage is unvaried, at the same price as we are now paying for imports,” said Col. Gabriele Picchioni, the head of the facility.

Launched in 2014, the Florence-based operation managed 50 kilograms in 2020 before rising to 300 kilograms in 2022. The increase was achieved thanks to more growing rooms — up from two in 2016 to 10 today — with six harvests a year in each of six flowering rooms, which host between 50 and 125 plants each.

To reach 700 kilograms next year, technicians are perfecting lighting, watering, temperature and ventilation, and they are using a blend of secret nutrients developed in-house that are mixed in with the hydroponic irrigation.

Also in 2023, the lab aims to produce cannabis-infused olive oil, which users can take in drop form, Latorre said.

He added that five private firms are set to supply more mother plants, from which cuttings can be taken to grow the plants in Florence. However, the main operation will not be farmed out to the private sector, he explained. “The state will continue to do this to guarantee quality and price.”

Why is the Army in charge?

The Army was handed the role of Italy’s legal pot supplier for two reasons, officials have said: to produce cannabis at a secure facility, and because the armed service has been in the pharmaceutical business for decades, turning out chemical warfare antidotes and malaria pills for soldiers.

The Army also manufactures so-called orphan drugs — medicines for rare diseases or conditions that big companies ignore because of the low production rates. The service currently makes four such drugs to supply 3,000 people in Italy.

As cannabis production ramps up, the Army has registered two types of marijuana it harvests as brands: FM1 and FM2, which stand for “Farmaceutico Militare” (or “Military Pharmaceutical” in English). Each contains a different level of tetrahydrocannabinol, the compound that gives pot its high.

Latorre said his agency’s activities facilitated a growing shift toward military involvement in public health sector, a trend accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw Army personnel set up treatment tents and transport vaccines.

“COVID made us see how public health is tied to the defense of the country and its security,” he said.

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

意大利佛罗伦萨——为了在合法医用大麻领域实现自给自足，意大利正在使用秘密营养液在超洁净的房间里种植大麻，这些房间的管理严格程度堪比军事行动。

难怪他们会请求军队来处理这项任务。

明年，意大利政府计划生产 700 公斤（1543 磅）顶级大麻，以满足该国每年 1500 公斤（3307 磅）的近一半需求，这些大麻将用于缓解癌症或帕金森病患者等需要止痛的人群。

“下一步是实现自给自足——这是我们的目标，”负责监管该项目的意大利国防工业局局长尼古拉·拉托雷说道。该机构隶属于国防部，负责国家国防企业的商业化运作。

军队目前还无法种植的大麻是从荷兰、加拿大、丹麦和德国进口的，但在佛罗伦萨郊外一个不起眼的军队设施中，大麻的生产正在加紧进行。

“我们在佛罗伦萨可以生产的是高度标准化的产品，剂量不会改变，价格与我们现在为进口产品支付的价格相同，”该工厂负责人加布里埃莱·皮基奥尼上校说。

这家位于佛罗伦萨的工厂于 2014 年成立，2020 年产量为 50 公斤，到 2022 年增至 300 公斤。产量增长得益于种植室数量的增加——从 2016 年的 2 个增加到现在的 10 个——每个种植室每年可进行 6 次收成，每个种植室可种植 50 至 125 株植物。

为了明年达到 700 公斤的产量，技术人员正在完善照明、浇水、温度和通风，他们还使用了一种内部开发的秘密营养液混合物，这种营养液与水培灌溉混合在一起。

拉托雷表示，该实验室还计划在 2023 年生产大麻橄榄油，用户可以以滴剂的形式服用。

他还补充说，五家私营企业将提供更多母株，可以从中扦插繁殖，运往佛罗伦萨进行种植。但他解释说，主要生产环节不会外包给私营部门。“为了保证质量和价格，国家将继续主导这项工作。”

为什么由军队掌权？

官员们表示，意大利军队被赋予合法大麻供应商的角色有两个原因：一是在一个安全的设施中生产大麻，二是军队几十年来一直从事制药业务，为士兵生产化学战解毒剂和疟疾药片。

军队还生产所谓的孤儿药——用于治疗罕见疾病或病症的药物，由于产量低，这些药物往往被大型制药公司忽略。目前，军队生产四种此类药物，供应意大利3000人。

随着大麻产量的增加，美国陆军已将收获的两种大麻注册为品牌：FM1 和 FM2，这两个名称分别代表“Farmaceutico Militare”（意为“军用药品”）。这两种大麻所含的四氢大麻酚（THC）含量不同，THC 是使大麻产生致幻作用的化合物。

拉托雷表示，他所在机构的活动促进了公共卫生领域军事参与程度的不断提高，而 COVID-19 大流行加速了这一趋势，陆军人员搭建了治疗帐篷并运输了疫苗。

他说：“新冠疫情让我们认识到公共卫生与国家防御和安全息息相关。”

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。