Subject: Italy: Italian Radical Party Politician Convicted For Giving Out Free Hashish



Pubdate: Tue, 18 Jan 2000



Source: Boston Globe (MA)





ITALIAN RADICAL PARTY POLITICIAN CONVICTED FOR GIVING OUT FREE HASHISH



ROME (AP) The founder of Italy's Radical Party was convicted for the second

time Tuesday of handing out free hashish.



Marco Pannella was ordered to pay a $3,700 fine and given a suspended

sentence of two months and 20 days.



The case dated to December 1995, when he handed out about 3 grams of hashish

to crowds in Rome's central Piazza Navona. Pannella has long crusaded for

the legalization of hashish and marijuana, contending it would cripple the

Mafia's lucrative drug-dealing business.



Three years ago, Pannella was handed a four-month suspended sentence for

distributing free hashish and marijuana at a Roman flea market in 1995.



Tuesday's conviction comes as Italy's center-left government bickers over a

proposal to legalize hashish and marijuana presented by the largest party in

the coalition, the Democratic Left. Conservative leaders have denounced the

proposal.



Pannella's past campaigns, which include hunger strikes and the distribution

of money, have helped push through referendums legalizing divorce and

abortion.