2022 may be a pivotal year for Italy as the country is likely to hold a referendum to decriminalize marijuana.
Campaign groups have been able to gather the required 500,000 signatures in only a week and before the September 30th deadline. This means that the popular referendum could be called.
If the public votes to decriminalize cannabis, the purchase, sale and cultivation of the plant will all become legal under Italian law.
More than 500,000 online signatures in just a week for the #ReferendumCannabis,” the campaigners announced on their official Facebook page. “We celebrate them by thanking you one by one, because this is a first and not just in Italy.”
Italy currently allows medicinal marijuana but, buying, selling and mass cultivating the herb is illegal and dealers could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
“It’s a paradox, as if the state blames the whole phenomenon on organized crime,” campaigners had said. “Legalizing does not mean promoting consumption but making it safer and more informed.
“If cannabis were legal, it would put an end to unnecessary trials for small amounts of the drug and ensure that patients who use it to relieve their excruciating pain will never have to face a court again,” they added.
According to the group, if Italy were to legalize cannabis it would generate thousands of new jobs and increase tax revenues for the state, putting the approximate value at 7 billion euros or $8.2 billion.
“So with a smile we will continue to share, explain, take to the streets and discuss because we know perfectly well what we want — legal cannabis and an Italy free from the mafia!” campaigners said.
