Italy: More than 630 citizens call for referendum to legalize cannabis

Um referendum request with more than 630 thousand signatures of Italian citizens was delivered today, October 28, at the Italian Court of Cassation. The document proposes changes to the current law, including decriminalizing self-cultivation and ending penalties for possessing cannabis. According to the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), Italy has around 6 million cannabis users a year.

In just one week, more than 580 citizens signed the referendum request, exceeding the minimum threshold of 500 signatures required by law. Since 11/630, a major mobilization has taken place in Italy, calling for a referendum on the legalization of cannabis in the country. Today, more than XNUMX signatures from Italian citizens will be presented to the Court of Cassation, with the aim of voting for the referendum next spring.

Italians mobilized en masse in September to call for a referendum on the legalization of cannabis.

Antonella Soldo, coordinator of the Meglio Legale Association and member of the Cannabis Referendum promoting committee, told Cannareporter exclusively that “the referendum aims to decriminalize cannabis cultivation, remove prison sentences applicable to cannabis-related activities and end with the withdrawal of the driving license”. Nowadays, in Italy, it is possible to lose your driving license if you are arrested in possession of cannabis, even if you are not driving.

The idea of ​​promoting a referendum came from the associations Luca Coscioni and Meglio Legale, who have been working for years to open a debate on the issue of legalization, want to give voice to one of the most important and transversal social issues of our time in Italy: “an issue that it permeates justice, public health, security, business opportunities, the fight against mafias, scientific research and individual freedoms”, reads the press release to which Cannareporter had access.

The “Referendum Cannabis” is promoted by the Associations Luca Coscioni, Meglio Legale, Forum Droghe, Società della Ragione, Antigone and dai partiti + Europa, Possibile, Radicali italiani, Potere al Popolo, Rifondazione Comunista, Volt and Sinistra Italiana and was the first in Italy that exclusively used the recently introduced online subscription resource, which involved a large number of citizens.

Italy also faces difficulties in accessing 
According to the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), it is estimated that there are more than 6 million cannabis users a year in Italy, but there is still no public data for medicinal users. “With our association, Meglio Legale, we frequently collect testimonies from patients who report the absence of medicines in pharmacies. This is because the production of medical cannabis in Italy is very low compared to the need and the only possible production is that controlled by the state”, said Antonella Soldo.

The only authorized producer of medical cannabis in Italy is the Military, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Institute of Florence. However, there are more than XNUMX “light cannabis” stores open across Italy, selling CBD products in different forms, such as oils, creams and food products. One of the best-selling products continues to be the hemp flower, but “the sale takes place under a special condition: the law does not prohibit it and at the same time does not allow it”. In Italy, the sale of cannabis inflorescences is only allowed as a “collector's product”, something that also happens in Portugal. “Thus, the producers are at the mercy of the legal initiatives of the prosecutors of the various territories”, says Antonella.

In Italy it is not allowed to grow hemp or cannabis at home. “People who did it out of necessity can face up to six years in prison. Many patients are on trial, such as Walter De Benedetto, who has rheumatoid arthritis, or Cristian Filippo, 24, who has fibromyalgia”, concludes Antonella Soldo.