For the second time in eight months, the Italian Court of Cassation, the country's highest court, has crafted a quirky exception to that country's laws against marijuana possession. In a ruling last week, the high court held that a shepherd's marijuana use was justified because he was alone with his flock.

The shepherd, identified only as Giorgio D., was convicted of possession after police found 38 grams of pot in his car as he drove off for an extended stay with his flock in the mountains of Alto Adige, in the country's far north. But the Court of Cassation upheld his appeal of the conviction, ruling that he was justified in possessing small amounts of the drug because of the "long and solitary period" he was about to spend "in the countryside and the mountains, due to the migration of his flock of sheep."

Back in June 2008, the same court overturned the marijuana possession conviction of a practicing Rastafarian, known only as Giuseppe G. In that case, the high court held that his use of marijuana was allowed because for him the herb "was a possible conveyor to a psychophysical state connected to contemplative prayer in the belief that the sacred herb grew on the tomb of Solomon, acquiring its potency from that wise king."

Well, that's a start. Now, if only Italy would get around to making it so you don't have to be a Rastaman or a shepherd to be able to smoke pot in peace.