Cannabis, what the parties say about legalization

There legalization of soft drugs such as cannabis it has always been a theme that polarizes politics in Italy. On the left, he pushes to legalize; right, he pushes himself to prevent it. And this election campaign ahead of the September 25th vote is no exception.

Where are we at?

In Italy, the legislative framework that regulates the consumption and trade of illicit substances adopts a punitive system, which starts from the Iervolino-Vassalli law, of 1990. This bill provided that drugs were defined on the basis of their effects, but on the basis of the fact that they were contained in one of two lists periodically updated by the Ministry of Health. The first list included hard drugs, the second soft drugs. Cannabis derivatives, namely hashish and marijuana, were included in the latter list. For the trade in both categories, a prison sentence was envisaged, longer in the case of hard drugs. For consumption, an administrative penalty was instead envisaged.

With the bill 2038dating back to 2006 and gone down in history as Fini-Giovanardi law, the distinction between soft and hard drugs had been canceled, and all substances had been included in the same table, resulting in increased penalties. In 2014, the Constitutional Court defined the Fini-Giovanardi law “unconstitutional“not for the content, but for the way in which it was approved, since it was included in a provision that dealt with various subjects.

Since 2014, the main drug law is the Lorenzin decree, according to which the tables of substances published by the Ministry of Health are five, based on the hazard attributed to the substance. Cannabis and derivatives are included in the second table. The penalties for the trade and consumption of these substances are lower than in the past, but they still exist. There have been several attempts to decriminalize drugs – most recently the referendum of 2021 considered inadmissible by the Constitutional Court – for the moment without feedback. Let’s see what the parties say on the subject:

1. Who does not talk about it
2. Who is in favor
3. Who is against

The Constitutional Court also rejected the referendum on cannabis

As for euthanasia, even in the case of the referendum on cannabis, the judges of the Council found that the question was not acceptable at the constitutional level

Who does not talk about it

There is no explicit mention of the theme in the joint program of Action and Italia Viva, led respectively by Carlo Calenda and Matteo Renzi. However, Calenda has in the past argued that legalizing “it would allow the control of an out-of-control situation“implying a favorable position.