It may be hard to pinpoint the exact time when cannabis will be legalized worldwide, but it’s a safe bet that eventually, most, if not all of the planet, will end cannabis prohibition.

In theory, there could always be a limited amount of countries that stay on the wrong side of history for a very long time. However, most countries will presumably legalize at some point.

Cannabis prohibition is a failed public policy wherever it exists, and that, combined with the economic benefits of a vibrant cannabis industry, is going to influence lawmakers around the globe to step up and end prohibition in their jurisdictions.

Canadian pot producer Aurora Cannabis Inc said on Thursday it had secured a two-year contract to supply medical cannabis to the Italian government.

The company will supply a minimum of 400 kg of medical cannabis to the country, one of the most strictly regulated medical cannabis markets in the world.

Aurora said it will supply cannabis from its Canadian EU GMP certified facilities and imported into Italy through Aurora Deutschland, its wholly-owned European unit.

The supply contract is expected to be signed in September, it added.

Edmonton, Alberta-based Aurora, which had won the first tender in Italy in January 2018, said it will continue to supply medical cannabis to the country according to the contract.

Cannabis could be even better at treating migraines than traditionally recommended medications, a new study has found.

One of the most interesting, relevant and perhaps shocking places to study cannabis is Italy. Mostly known for other crops like tomato and olive, Italy was actually one of the world’s top cannabis producers in the first half of the 1900’s. Cannabis has served many roles through Italy’s recent history: as a centerpiece of a thriving industry, as an illegally trafficked narcotic, and as a consumable product used both medically and recreationally. Cannabis was widely grown as an industrial crop used in everything from ropes and rigging, to sails for ships, clothing, bedding, and other commercial applications.

Whether you're based in the North with only a tiny balcony cannabis garden in Milan or have a countryside haven in rural Sicily. We've got 5 amazing weed strains for the outdoor cannabis hobby grower in Italy to consider cropping in 2017.

CAN CANNABIS BE GROWN OUTDOORS IN ITALY?

The short answer is yes, absolutely. Moreover, Italy as a whole probably has the best-suited climate in all of Europe for outdoor cannabis cultivation.

It’s no secret that Italian food is some of the best in Europe, if not the world. What’s less well known outside of Italy is that some of the finest weed cropped in Europe is farmed in Southern Italy.

Farmers in a region of Italy once known for cheeses have turned to cultivating a type of cannabis -- not to smoke or sell -- but to decontaminate polluted soil.

The hemp they’re growing contains very little THC -- the compound that makes people high.

Vincenzo Fornaro showed CBS News an empty farm, once packed with more than 600 sheep.

“For generations, our family produced ricotta and meat,” Fornaro recalled.

It wasn’t until 2008 when Italy’s government discovered the toxic chemical dioxin in his sheep and slaughtered the entire herd.  The culprit was just a mile away.

Italy’s Health Ministry has published the definitive “all you wanted to know about” guide to medical cannabis.

It is targeted to physicians who can prescribe it and to pharmacists who can sell it. In addition, it offers information about precise dosing, administration, special warnings, possible drug interactions and side effects, and overdose. The brochure adds that “medical use” “does not exactly mean that it is a medical therapy, but rather, a treatment of symptoms, offered to support other standard treatments” and it can be used as/for:

Col Antonio Medica is a state-approved drug baron. At the dauntingly named Military Pharmaceutical Plant in Florence, the colonel grows 100kg (220lb) of cannabis a year.

The crop itself is guarded in the depths of the plant by a series of locked doors. All visitors must wear protective clothing and face masks. 

Just inside a final heavy door, a line of tape on the ground warns visitors not to go in any further. Beyond the line, several dozen rows of cannabis plants are flanked by lamps and fans. 

Italy's logic is simple: in this country, medical marijuana is legal. It is prescribed for pain relief to patients with cancer or multiple sclerosis. 

Since 2007, the Italian government has been slowly chipping away at cannabis prohibition. The country’s Health Minister recognized marijuana as a viable pharmaceutical product a couple of years ago, but you might be surprised as to who is producing this medicinal cannabis for the thousands of applicable patients living in Italy. 

It's every stoner's nightmare: marijuana plants as far as the eye can see and not a spliff in sight.

"No, I have never tried it, and I don't have any intention of trying it either," says Antonio Medica, the colonel in charge of the Italian military's cannabis laboratory in Florence.

As he inspects pristine plant buds destined to be cut and dried into a version of the drug for medical use, the veteran officer is nonetheless sure he is producing some really good stuff.

"Absolutely yes, I can assure you of that," says Medica, who is wearing surgeon's scrubs over his uniform. "We have done the tests."