|
Europe:
New
Italian
Government
to
Move
to
"Reduce
Damage"
of
Tough
Drug
Law
6/16/06
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/440/italy.shtml
As one of its last legacies,
the rightist government of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
passed a tough
new drug law in February that treated people in possession of more
than five grams of marijuana or similarly small amounts of other drugs
as if they were drug dealers. Under the new law, possession of lesser
amounts still subjected people to drug treatment and/or other administrative
sanctions.
Passage of the so-called
"Fini-Giovanardi law," named after its author, neo-fascist politician Gianfranco
Fini, and Berlusconi minister Carlo Giovanardi, sparked protests and calls
from opposition figures to reverse it. The law's passage also helped
make Rome's Global Marijuana March one of the world's largest this year,
with more than ten thousand participants.
Berlusconi and his center-right
coalition lost power after the April elections, and the new government
is signaling it will move to ameliorate the law's harsh impact. "We
do not know what act we will issue yet, but it must cause a reduction of
damage with respect to the current law," said Welfare Minister Paolo Ferreri
last week outside a National Committee for Rehabilitation conference in
remarks reported by the Agencia Giornalistica Italiana (AGI). "There
will then be a comprehensive modification... through which there will be
a clear separation of light drugs from heavy drugs, because the most worrying
aspect among the youth is the lack of awareness of the different dangers
of drugs."
Minister Ferrari also reiterated
the commitment of the left-leaning Union coalition led by new Prime Minister
Romano Prodi to decriminalize drug possession. "It is also necessary
to make consumption a non-penal infraction along with the improvement of
administrative measures," Ferrero said. "It is therefore necessary
to differentiate between the dealing of drugs and the consumption of them,
setting up talks with consumers to explain the true dangers of heavy-duty
drugs."
By early this week, pressed
on recent, well-publicized arrests of young pot smokers, Ferrari was ready
to go a little further. In an interview with Radio Radicale, he said
his team "is working hard in order to find a rapid solution -- certainly
by the end of the year -- against the negative effects of the Fini-Giovanardi
law." Not only must use be decriminalized, but even administrative
sanctions must be abolished, he said. As for the pot arrests, those
shouldn't even be happening, he said.
The new Italian government
is talking the talk. Time will tell if it walks the walk.
-- END --
|
Issue #440
-- 6/16/06
Editorial:
Real
World
Consequences
|
Feature:
Death
Toll
Climbs
as
Fentanyl-Laced
Heroin
ODs
Spread
|
Feature:
Among
Whites,
Imprisoning
Drug
Users
a
Minority
Opinion,
Survey
Finds
|
Feature:
Industrial
Hemp
Push
Underway
in
California,
North
Dakota
|
Offer
and
Appeal:
Important
New
Legalization
Video
and
Drug
War
Facts
Book
Available
|
Book
Offer:
Burning
Rainbow
Farm:
How
a
Stoner
Utopia
Went
up
in
Smoke
|
Alert:
Important
Medical
Marijuana
Vote
Coming
Up
in
Congress
--
Your
Help
Needed
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Follow-up:
Colombia
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Results
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Feedback:
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You
Read
Drug
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Law
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This
Week's
Corrupt
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Stories
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Search
and
Seizure:
Supreme
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Upholds
Searches
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Notice
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Methamphetamine:
Epidemic?
What
Epidemic?
Study
Asks
|
Law
Enforcement:
Justice
for
Sale
in
Washington
Border
County
|
Europe:
New
Italian
Government
to
Move
to
"Reduce
Damage"
of
Tough
Drug
Law
|
Europe:
Britain
to
Reclassify
Methamphetamine
as
Class
A
Drug
|
Canada:
Federal
Medical
Marijuana
Program
a
Flop,
AIDS
Society
Says
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Weekly:
This
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in
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