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STORY: Italy's flourishing, so-called "cannabis light" industry risks being uprooted this year,

with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni pushing a bill through parliament that producers say threatens thousands of jobs and millions of euros of investments.

Marijuana production is illegal in Italy.

But eight years ago, parliament authorized trade in hemp, a cannabis variety grown for its industrial and non-psychoactive uses.

Now, Meloni's arch-conservative coalition government says the 2016 law is too lax - and wants to ban any product deriving from the hemp flower.

Hemp producers, like Alessio Amicone, are crying foul at its rapid reversal.

"It's absurd that a state wants to protect, safeguard, and make Italian businesses work by starting a legitimate supply chain, and now wants to shut it all down, sending people home and forcing entrepreneurs to buy abroad. They are not protecting Italian companies, they are protecting foreign companies."

The government's anti-drug department likens the products made from the flower to recreational drugs, saying in a statement they "could pose risks" to public or road safety.

And Augusta Montaruli, a lawmaker with Meloni's Brothers of Italy party, says the ruling coalition is determined to stamp out grey areas in the law.

"If anyone was hoping to operate within legal uncertainty, that's not possible with us," she said.

But Amicone says they're waging a war on a substance that science has proven is not a drug.

Hemp contains very low levels of the psychoactive compound THC, meaning it can't make you high.

Instead, it has higher concentrations of cannabidiol, or CBD, known for its potential therapeutic effects, such as reducing anxiety, pain and inflammation.

CBD is mainly derived from the plant's flowering parts, known as inflorescence.

Producers say the flowers are a vital part of a supply chain that ranges from food and textiles to cosmetics.

An Italian trade group told Reuters, there are some 3,000 companies in Italy's hemp industry, with 10,000 full-time employees.

It has an annual turnover of around 500 million euros, with about 90% of the local product exported.

For Silvio Saraceni, the owner of a cannabis light shop in Rome, the bill spells economic suicide.

"We feel like we're holding our breath," he said.

"We're unable to think about the future or investments because we are in total uncertainty."