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Italy

Italy, a southern European nation that is a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, has among the highest rates of illicit drug use in Europe. Based on United Nations (UN) data, Italy has the highest rate of cannabis use in Europe, with over 14 percent of those between the ages of 15 and 64 using cannabis annually. Italy also has among the highest rates of cocaine use in Europe, with 2.2 percent of the adult population using cocaine annually.

The 8,500-kilometer coastline of Italy makes it a focal point for the trafficking and availability of illegal drugs. Ships easily hide large consignments of illicit drugs because of their complex structures. In the period 1979–90, the illicit trafficking and abuse of drugs in Italy reached alarming levels. In these years, 126,306 people were reported by the police to health authorities for possessing small quantities of and/or using drugs, 5,506 deaths were the direct result of the abuse of drugs (particularly heroin), and 4,516 kilograms and 3,173 kilograms of heroin and cocaine were seized, respectively. The drug epidemic was particularly acute between 1988 and 1990 and led to key legislative measures: the 1990 Law 162/90, the 1993 referendum and the 2006 Fini-Giovanardi law.

1990 Law 162/90

Italian Law 162/90 (Act n.309), which made personal use of moderate quantities of drugs a crime, became effective in July 1990. In 1975 drug legislation had decriminalized the personal use of drugs so that the moderate use of drugs would not be punishable. The 1990 legislation made all possession of drugs a crime and determined (in a quantifiable manner) the guidelines that differentiate between the user and dealer. According to its opponents, the codification of this distinction led the way to the institutionalization of the drug user and addict as a criminal.

Legislators determined an average daily dose (ADD), that is, an estimation of what it takes to sustain a drug habit per day given the type of drug. This ADD demarcated the user from the seller of drugs, but both addict and dealer or trafficker were penalized: the user with administrative sanctions (suspension of a driver's license and/or passport) and the dealer or trafficker with criminal ones. Addicts had the option to undergo drug treatment in lieu of imprisonment. The 1990 legislation was in line with the “zero-tolerance” approach of the United States and the 1988 UN Convention Against the Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. It was also consistent with the prohibitionist shift of Bettino Craxi, the secretary of the Italian Socialist Party. The principle of ADD was harshly criticized by scientific, legal, and law enforcement institutions and led to the 1993 referendum. The Italian people had visions of recreational cannabis users being taken to jail for what seemed to them harmless play.

The 1993 Referendum

The referendum about Law 162/90 aimed to reverse the criminalization of the personal use of drugs, eliminate the ADD and allow judicial prudence to differentiate the drug user or addict from the dealer, and propose a drug policy culture of prevention, rehabilitation, harm reduction, and evaluation. The referendum won 55.3 to 44.7 percent, and most of these aims were met. The remainder of the 1990s were marked by a mild and tolerant approach to dealing with the drug problem in Italy, and resulted in the development of harm reduction policies (methadone maintenance and needle exchange programs), drug treatment facilities, school prevention programs, and drop-in centers. Under the 1993 modification, users and addicts were still subject to the administrative sanctions, but personal (moderate) use was once again decriminalized. The legislation excised the reference to personal use as “illicit,” thereby sensitizing the public and police officers to the humanity of the drug user and addict.

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