Review of chaotic legislation on the eve of full legalization of marijuana in Italy.
Hemp and cannabis have been cultivated in Italy for millennia. The hemp sector is particularly flourishing in the construction industry. Small amounts of cannabis intended for personal use are not subject to prosecution, but cannabis remained illegal under international law. However, since July 25, the Italian Parliament has been studying a bill on the complete legalization of marijuana, including the self-production of cannabis.
Retrospective of Italian Laws
- In 1990, the Iervolino-Vassalli law provided for non-criminal sanctions for "soft" drugs, including cannabis.
- 1993 the Italian people voted by referendum decriminalizing the possession of any drug for personal use.
- 2006 the Fini-Giovanardi law : Berlusconi's government abolished the distinction between hard and soft drugs. Trafficking or selling cannabis was punishable by a fine of 260, and imprisonment for up to 000 years.
- 2007, only Italian patients with cancer, sclerosis and chronic disease made legal use of marijuana available only through state-licensed pharmacies.
- 2011 the Supreme Court authorizes the cultivation of a single plant for personal use, under condition of good behavior.
- 2011 a law allows licensed Italian farmers to grow hemp for the industry.
- 2013, Reato Balduzzi, the Minister of Health, authorizes the medical use of cannabis. Patients can now obtain a legal quantity from licensed physicians and government-run pharmacies. The imported grass reaches a prohibitive price going up to 38th per gram; therapy that will cost up to $ 300 per month for 25 ml of cannabis oil.
- 2014 the constitutional court decides that the Fini-Giovanardi law is unconstitutional, and returns to the provisions of that of Iervolino-Vassalli. Today, the Sale or Trafficking of cannabis is punishable by a fine of up to 75 and penalties ranging from 000 to 2 years imprisonment.
- 2015, the military produces marijuana in a well-kept laboratory in Florence, its researchers are growing varieties that flower with little light and little water. This is due to a will of state to reduce the prohibitive price of medical marijuana
"The aim of this operation is to supply a growing number of patients with a medical product which is not always easily accessible on the market, at a more attractive price for the user" announces Colonel Antonio Medica. “The price of a gram of cannabis could drop to € 15 per gram, maybe € 5”. General Giocondo Santoni heads this unit in Florence.
Following the "extraordinary session on the world drug problem"
The 21 April 2016 UN acts the failure of the war on drugs. At this meeting, Jean-Francis Régis Zinsou, chair of the meeting concluded that the proposed solutions were based more on "a more humane, human rights-based and evidence-based approach" than on the repression of governments. The draft resolution, prepared in March, refers to "a society free from drug abuse", and no longer to a utopian "world without drugs".
July 25 2016 , following the influence of the debate organized by the UN, 218 Italian parliamentarians (from right as from left) signed the Bill aiming at the complete legalization of cannabis, authorizing the recreational use, the retail sale. However, consumption in public places would remain prohibited.
The law provides that personal cultivation should not exceed 5 plants, the rest of the production being managed by the State and Army Monopoly. Cannabis users cannot exceed 15 grams at home, and 5 grams outside.
Italy would become the first country in the European Union to take this step towards full legalization
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