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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Italy: Drug Thresholds Spark Row
ANSA.it
Tuesday 04 Apr 2006 Critics say recreational users could be targeted as dealers (ANSA) - Rome, April 4 Opposition to the government's new drug law hardened on Tuesday when it unveiled a set of thresholds for drug possession which critics blasted as too low . The table, indicating how much constitutes personal drug use as opposed to supply, set thresholds of 500mg for cannabis (the equivalent of 15-20 joints), 750mg for cocaine (or some 5 doses), 250mg for heroin (or some 10 shots), 750mg for ecstasy (or five tablets), 500mg for amphetamines and 150mg for LSD . The new thresholds mean that people caught with more than these quantities will automatically face criminal proceedings for dealing unless they can prove that personal use only is intended . They complete a controversial February law enshrining a "zero tolerance" approach to all types of drugs, making possession of hard and soft ones a potentially criminal offence with jail terms ranging from six to 20 years for suppliers . Personal users do not escape punishment, as in the past, but penalties are mild: ranging from an official warning to temporary confiscation of driving licenses and passports . The government hailed the law as ending tolerance towards marijuana users and affirming the principle that all drugs are bad . Minister for Relations with Parliament Carlo Giovanardi reassured critics at a press conference on Tuesday that quantity would not be the only factor taken into account by the police and judicial authorities in deciding whether a person should be treated as a dealer . He said that cases would be considered individually, for example, with attention being paid to how the drugs are being kept or whether the person claiming to be a user is carrying a suspiciously large amount of money . Giovanardi dismissed centre-left opposition claims that 'recreational' drug users would be penalised, saying that "a kid found with a joint won't be sent to jail." Communications Minister Maurizio Gasparri, a member of the rightist National Alliance (AN), said that the table reflected the "sense of responsibility and balance" of the panel of experts appointed by the government to decide on the threshold quantities. "Drug consumers won't be criminalised... but we finally have the certainty that drug dealers will be punished," said Gasparri, whose party was the main architect of the new law. "This will put a stop to those absurd and shameful sentences in which people found with a kilo of cocaine are viewed as personal users and escape criminal proceedings," he said . But opposition MPs attacked the regulated amounts, saying they were far too low and could result in thousands of soft drug users being sent to prison . They noted that very few European countries define specific quantities as thresholds for criminal proceedings and argued that even in the states that did, the amounts were consistently higher than those being introduced by the government . The leader of the small libertarian Radical party, Daniele Capezzone, said that "in New York, the limit is 56 times higher, in Moscow, 40 times and in Canada and the rest of Europe, 30 times." "Italy risks becoming a paradise for dealers and a hell for youngsters who occasionally use soft drugs. It's well known that youngsters tend to buy higher quantities just so they can limit contact with dealers," said Capezzone, whose party has spearheaded opposition to the crackdown . Critics also stressed that it was a habit for many youngsters to buy drugs for their friends as well as themselves and that they now unwittingly risked being classed as dealers . The hard-left Communist Refoundation Party said that "youngsters who use cannabis will be the ones to suffer from this law which treats them on a par with heroin dealers." He said his party would ensure the law is overturned should the centre left win the upcoming general elections . The law has been greeted mostly with dismay by drug treatment professionals . Like their colleagues in other countries, they have been arguing for years that treatment should be given a much higher priority than incarceration . Treatment specialists said the main problem facing Italy was a 80% rise in cocaine use in the past 10 years . The law has also sparked controversy because it overrides a 1993 referendum in which Italians voted to decriminalise the use of drugs, allowing only pushers and traffickers to be prosecuted . According to recent statistics, 33% of Italian teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19 have smoked pot at least once, while 10-12% have tried cocaine, 11% ecstasy and 7-10% crack Among adult Italians, almost 10% are reported to use pot on a regular basis . There are an estimated 300,000-320,000 heroin addicts in Italy, more than 20,000 of whom are in jail. In 2001, 150,300 Italians were treated for drug addiction .
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