Legislative elections in Italy and the prospect of cannabis legalization

In Italy, cannabis consumption is a well-established habit. Cannabis is the country's most widely consumed illegal substance, with around 9.8 % of Italians using it, or 6.1 million people.

If any citizens' initiatives to legalize, showing popular support very quickly stopped by the Constitutional Court, the fundamental debate on the legalization of cannabis has never really begun in Italy, despite the fact that the National Anti-Mafia Directorate has spoken out in favor of legalization.

On the medical cannabis front, patients are faced with shortages of medical cannabis, most of which is imported. The Italian army is currently the only domestic producer, and fails to meet demand, Even though the licensing mechanism is in place to authorize other companies to produce.

The forthcoming legislative elections in Italy, triggered by the fall of the Draghi government at the end of July, will determine the course of Italian politics for the next few years. Here's an overview of the various Italian parties and their vision of cannabis.

On the right, business as usual

Some members of the right-wing parties have timidly begun to review their positions, notably on medical cannabis. Party leaders, however, remain clearly opposed to any change.

For Silvio Berlusconi, «legalizing cannabis by transforming drug use into a socially accepted and acceptable behavior seems to me to be a serious mistake, a cultural one rather than a legal one. Drugs, even light drugs, are the opposite of freedom, and I would add to that the dignity of the individual».

Matteo Salvini of the Northern League had declared war on cannabis light stores. I'm personally against it! I'd be in favor of legalizing and regulating prostitution, because until proven otherwise, sex doesn't hurt, cannabis does. And if the doctors say it's good for healing... For God's sake, but absolutely not for entertainment!.

Giorgia Meloni, leader of the far-right Fratelli d'Italia party, takes the same line: «Fratelli d'Italia voted against the bill on the cultivation and administration of cannabis for therapeutic use because the contours of the law are so unclear that there is a risk, in essence, of a disguised legalization of this substance for recreational purposes».

More openness on the left

Over the last 3 legislatures, the legalization argument has been adopted by several parties, including the Radicals, the 5-Star Movement, the Democratic Party (PD) and others mainly on the left.

Among the leading proponents of legalization is +Europa, which, in its election manifesto, writes: «We promote strategies for legalizing and regulating drug use in order to reduce the harm caused by personal consumption, in the name of individual freedom, the fight against crime and the fight against the profits of narco-mafias, the protection of public health, free access to treatment and freedom of research into the medical and scientific use of these substances«.

Other parties, such as Possible and Potere al Popolo, but also Verdi and Sinistra Italiana, support the legalization of cannabis in their programs and the creation of genuine supply chains from the point of view of industrial hemp to revive the Italian economy. Enrico Letta, Secretary of the PD, declared: «In the context of policies to combat the mafia and organized crime, we believe that the time has come to legalize the self-production of cannabis for personal use and to ensure that medical cannabis is effectively guaranteed to patients who need it».

And finally, the M5S , which presented its program entitled «On the right side,» included cannabis by providing for a reform to regulate cannabis cultivation for personal use.

Could a future government formed by an anti-prohibitionist majority really lead to a change desired by the majority of the people? Italy join the initiative taken by Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Malta who, last July, met to discuss legalizing the recreational use of cannabis? What if, instead, a majority of prohibitionists were elected?

Questions that time will answer.