cannabisnews.com: Italy's New Hard Line on Soft Drugs Sparks Row 





Italy's New Hard Line on Soft Drugs Sparks Row 
Posted by CN Staff on November 14, 2003 at 19:13:38 PT
By John Hooper in Rome
Source: Guardian Unlimited UK
Furious argument erupted in Italy yesterday over plans by Silvio Berlusconi's hard-right government for a sharp u-turn on drug control. A bill drawn up by the deputy prime minister and leader of Italy's former neo-fascists, Gianfranco Fini, abolishes distinctions between "hard" and "soft" drugs and introduces stiff penalties for possession as well as trafficking. Cannabis users caught with more than a few days' supply face jail sentences. Clubbers found with a single ecstasy tablet could have their passports impounded.
Mr Fini said: "Taking drugs is not an innocuous exercise of freedoms that cannot be curbed, but a rejection of the most elementary duties of the individual towards the various communities in which he or she actually lives." Monsignor Vinicio Albanesi, the president of the Capodarco community, which takes in drug addicts for rehabilitation, condemned the proposals. "The philosophy underlying the bill is that of the authoritarian father who doesn't know how to cope with his son, so takes a strap to him," he said. While several European countries are edging towards decriminalisation of cannabis, Italy has chosen to follow a tougher, US-style approach. Mr Fini said a new policy was needed because of the increasing strength of the cannabis derivatives reaching Italy. "The joint of 10 years ago had an active ingredient of not more than 1.5%. Today, you can find them with as much as 15%. That is how the devastating and progressively less reversible effects [of cannabis] on physical and mental health are being multiplied," he said. While penalising all forms of drug-taking, Mr Fini's law reintroduces the concept of a "daily minimum dose", which was struck out of the Italian statute book by a referendum 10 years ago. The new possession thresholds are 250g of cannabis, 300g of ecstasy, 200g of heroin and, somewhat surprisingly, 500g of cocaine. Unless the bill is modified in parliament, possession of more than these amounts will be a crime punishable by up to six years in prison. Possession of smaller amounts will also be an offence, but with non-custodial penalties. Offenders risk having their passports and their driving and arms licences suspended; foreigners, including European Union citizens, would lose their residents' permits. Mr Fini's bill has come as a shock to a society in which cannabis smoking has become quite widely accepted. Surveys show that the number of users runs to several million and that a third of all university students have tried soft drugs. Not long ago, a guest on a prime-time television show ostentatiously lit a very obvious spliff. One of the programme's co-presenters, Paolo Kessisoglu, said yesterday: "It's plain as day that, even if the law gets through, it's going to be impossible to enforce." The composer of a new song aimed at the prohibitionist lobby, who goes by the stage name of J Ax, sounded a similar note. "What are they going to do?" he asked an interviewer from the newspaper La Stampa. "Arrest six-and-a-half million Italians?" His song notes that Mr Fini is himself a smoker - of tobacco. However, with 14,000 Italians undergoing treatment for soft-drug abuse, not all those involved in therapeutic work oppose the bill. Father Pierino Gelmini of the Incontro community, which helps victims of drugs and alcohol, said: "All drugs do harm. Joints scramble the brain. Is that what we want - to bring up an army of demented youngsters?" Note: Cannabis and ecstasy users face tough penalties in crackdown.Source: Guardian Unlimited, The (UK)Author: John Hooper in RomePublished: Saturday, November 15, 2003Copyright: 2003 Guardian Newspapers LimitedContact: letters guardian.co.ukWebsite: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Related Articles:Pass The Dutchie, Don't Sell It, Judge Tells Kids http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15414.shtmlItaly Police Battle Reefer Madness at Swiss Border http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13888.shtmlItalian Region Backs Medical Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12687.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #2 posted by CorvallisEric on November 15, 2003 at 00:49:54 PT
Subject? - Can't think of one.
Mr Fini said: "Taking drugs is not an innocuous exercise of freedoms that cannot be curbed, but a rejection of the most elementary duties of the individual towards the various communities in which he or she actually lives."Who is Mr. Fini? - deputy prime minister and leader of Italy's former neo-fascists, Gianfranco Fini
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by CorvallisEric on November 15, 2003 at 00:40:30 PT
Needs math and science-literate proofreader
In the article above: The new possession thresholds are 250g of cannabis, 300g of ecstasy, 200g of heroin and, somewhat surprisingly, 500g of cocaine.I suspect the Financial Times article got some of it right: Administrative sanctions will apply to people caught with up to 500 milligrams of cocaine, 300mg of ecstasy, 250mg of cannabis, 200mg of heroin and 50mg of LSD. Any quantities above these limits will incur penal sanctions. For cannabis the law will consider not the joints' weight but the amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the brain-affecting substance contained in them. http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread17799.shtmlWait a second - 50mg of LSD doesn't fit in with the others - that's hundreds of doses (perhaps 1000 if you consider the 1990's typical lower doses). On the other hand, 250mg of THC-equivalence equals 2.5 grams of 10% pot or hash.
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment