In Austria, with a specific ordinance, the Ministry of Health has included theHHC among narcotic substances, prohibiting it officially the production and marketing, while consumption and possession remain legal or at least are not yet considered crimes.
Austria has officially banned HHC
TheHHC, or hexahydrocannabinol, is a cannabinoid from similar effects to THC but decidedly milder, which, in recent months, has dominated the cannabis sector scene from America to Europe.
Synthesized for the first time in 1944, HHC can be obtained directly from the cannabis plant, but, since its extraction is particularly complex and expensive, it is produced in the laboratory, hence the nickname "semi-synthetic" cannabinoid.
Despite its discovery dating back almost a century ago there are no studies available on the effects of HHC on humans, neither in the short nor in the long term, and since consumption is so far unknown, there is also a lack of laws that specifically regulate it. At least until today.
Since Austria has finally expressed its opinion on the matter, classifying the HHC as one narcotic substance, therefore making its production and sale illegal. According to the Minister of Health Johannes Rauch, the new regulation will apply “until we have sufficient knowledge of the health consequences”.
Is HHC legal in Italy?
Taking advantage of the drug legislation that it does not specify legality or possible illegality of this "new" cannabinoid, products with HHC, passed off as hemp derivatives, have literally flooded the cannabis market. But Is HHC marketable in Italy?
According to paragraph 4) of the consolidated law on narcotics in Italy (art. 14 of Presidential Decree 390/90) which states: Any other substance which produces effects on the central nervous system and has the capacity to cause physical or mental dependence of the same or higher order than those previously indicated", and paragraph 6) which includes all of: "Cannabis indica, the products obtained from it; tetrahydrocannabinols, their natural analogues, substances obtained by synthesis or semi-synthesis which can be traced back to them by chemical structure or pharmaco-toxicological effect", theHHC should be considered illegal.
Despite this, as anticipated, there is no specific regulation that neither allows nor prohibits production, processing and subsequent sale. So the situation is still to be clarified.
