Italy: Supreme Court approves self-cultivation of cannabis

The Italian Supreme Court of Justice has just taken a historic decision by approving small-scale domestic cannabis cultivation. The Court ruled that the crime of cultivating cannabis should exclude “small amounts cultivated internally for the exclusive use of the producer”. The decision has already sparked outrage among the country's most conservative political parties. 

The decision was taken on the 19th of December, but went unnoticed until this Thursday, the 26th, when the news was finally released by the Italian news agency. HANDLE and immediately reproduced by Reuters and other international media.

The news immediately sparked a heated political debate over cannabis use in Italy, with conservatives speaking out against it and more progressive politicians gloating over the law's advance. While M5S favors a more liberal approach to cannabis, centre-left parties are more cautious, being right-wing manifestly against any kind of legalization of cannabis.

Matteo Mantero, senator of the 5 Star Movement (M5S), expressed his satisfaction with the legalization of self-cultivation: “Once again, jurisprudence takes the place of a cowardly legislator. The Court led the way, now it's up to us. Until this historic sentence, buying cannabis from a dealer, fueling crimes and putting health at risk with dubious products, was not a crime, while growing some plants at home for personal use could cost prison sentences.”

Mantero introduced an amendment to the Italian 2020 budget, calling for the legalization and regulation of domestic cannabis use, but it was declared “inadmissible” by the Senate president of Silvio Berlusconi’s conservative Forza Italia party.

"Drugs do harm, forget about growing them or buying them in stores," Matteo Salvini, leader of the right-wing League Party, said in a statement released on Friday, referring to stores that sell "light cannabis" in Italy.

Maurizio Gasparri, a senator from Forza Italia and an ally of the League, even said that the first law he would pass if he came to power would be “to cancel the absurd verdict of the Court”.

In a failed attempt to trigger early elections, Matteo Salvini, who was interior minister until he left the government in August, tried to close legal light cannabis stores.

The trade in cannabis derivatives has flourished for the past three years in Italy under the 2016 legislation allowing the sale of cannabis with a maximum THC content of 0,5%.
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Featured photo: Esteban López , Unsplash