A man who symbolized the battle to
legalise medical marijuana in Italy died near Arezzo at the age
of 49 on Monday.
Walter De Benedetto died of a grave form of rheumatoid
arthritis at Olmo.
De Benedetto was acquitted of drug pushing in April last year
after a court ruled that it was OK for him to exceed the legal
limit of cannabis cultivation because it was for his personal
health use.
He was acquitted by an Arezzo court after growing the cannabis
after running out of an adequate supply due to the COVID crisis.
Therapeutic cannabis, or medical marijuana, has been legal in
Italy for 15 years, but De Benedetto was accused of exceeding
the legal limits for growing it.
Youth Policy Minister Fabiana Dadone was among those calling the
sentence "historic".
De Benedetto himself said "I'm happy, not only for myself but
also for all those who are going through the same difficulties
as me, precisely because the right to treatment with cannabis
for solely therapeutic purposes has been confirmed".
The Radical Party, which has been campaigning for years to
legalise cannabis completely, posted a photo of De Benedetto
captioned "Acquitted!".
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