Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino on
Wednesday told a drug-policy conference that he supported the
legalization of marijuana in Italy.
"I am in favour of the possibility of deregulating cannabis
for medical or personal use," Marino said at the Eighth Annual
Conference of the International Society for the Study of Drug
Policy.
Earlier this month parliament approved a law that overhauls
Italy's drugs laws and reclassifies marijuana as a soft rather
than a hard narcotic, with lighter penalties for offenders.
"In 2011, more than one million plants were confiscated in
our country compared to 73,000 in France," Marino continued.
"Organized crime still manages large portions of
international traffic and there are enough reasons to reopen the
debate today in Italy.
"We live in a time in which reform for drug laws is
necessary on an international and national level.
"For Italy I personally have a very clear idea of what
needs to be done: the decriminalization of marijuana should be
considered a starting point because the years of prohibition
have not brought any results to prevent the dramatic increase in
the use of drugs.
"In addition, new forms of legalization could be
experimented with in medicine for people's health but also to
target organized crime".
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