[THS] BAD italian situation

[Peter Webster]

Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2008 04:06:28 +0200
From: pic  europa at pazienticannabis.org

The plenary session of the italian high Corte di Cassazione ruled once and for all on April 24th that growing cannabis for personal use is a major penal crime, and cannot be considered anymore as equivalent to possess for personal consumption. A refutation of previous sentences from single sessions of the same Court.
Regardless the number of plants and the amount of Thc contained, or even in its absence, the penalty according to the current legislation is possibly 6 to 20 years of jail.
In tune with an increasing anti-cannabis emergency campaign on all media, the 'new' govt. will now enforce a zero tolerance application of the act they themselves wrote a couple of years ago.
Some of them are already questioning if, established the unlawfulness of growing cannabis, it is possible to continue not to persecute consumption tout-court. Growshops will certainly be the target to start with.
Some others want to ban even cannabinoid medicines, as "they haven't any possible therapeutic value" and are a communist conspiracy aimed at our youths.
Parliamentary approval of any further act will become just a quick and useless formality, due to the vast majority of seats in both chambers, the absence of even a single leftist representative and the hold on both parliamentary presidencies. Only grass-root action from civil society is still possible.
The next five years promise tears and blood.
Only 3 months ago, we italians looked at NL and Canada as possible models to surpass for a new national approach on drugs consumption, three months later we find ourselves in a tougher situation than Iran.
And the nightmare is far from over: tomorrow Rome will know if, for the first time in her history, an explicit fascist will be appointed as Mayor after regular elections.
Dark night expected in Italy, some italians already talk about going to Spain or elsewhere as political refugees, as many Us citizens did with Canada.
I'm sure these are not the news europeans and you all wanted to hear, but it's just a picture of the reality.

un saluto
Alberto
(P.I.C.)