Italian lawyers collect 500,000 signatures for the decriminalization of cannabis and psychoactive substances

The Italian referendum cannabis advocacy group announced that it had collected 500,000 signatures in one week for its proposed electoral measure that would decriminalize cannabis cultivation and use, as well as other psychoactive substances.

The cannabis referendum lawyers announced on Facebook on September 18 that they had collected 500,000 signatures in just one week. This is also the minimum number of signatures required to qualify for a nationwide vote in spring 2022.

According to the group, referendum cannabis will continue to collect more signatures, according to this Facebook translation. “In less than a week we collected more than half a million signatures for the #ReferendumCannabis, an impressive result made possible thanks to the efforts of thousands of activists. But in order to send a clear message to politicians that is already undermining the importance of this result, let us undermine Parliament with a green tide! In order to safely achieve the goal and the vote in the spring of next spring, it is important to get 600,000 signatures. “

This success was made possible in part by a new law passed in July that legitimized the digital collection of signatures. Signatures had to be collected personally beforehand. According to the Agenzia Giornialistica Italia, proponents of Referendum Cannabis are proud to see how successful the campaign was in approving digital signatures. “An extraordinary but not surprising result: an intervention on cannabis had been necessary for some time and with the digital signature in a few days the topic exploded,” said the proponents of the Agenzia Giornialistica Italia according to a translation.

“This referendum is the first Italian signature collection to take place entirely online on the referendumcannabis.it website. The speed of mobilization confirms the desire for change in cannabis, but also for participation in decisions in personally touching matters. Now we have to collect another 15 percent more signatures in order to hand the referendum to the Supreme Court on September 30th. “

If the referendum becomes law, it would decriminalize the cultivation of cannabis and “lift the prison sentence for any illegal behavior related to cannabis, with the exception of the association that deals with the illegal trade under Art. It would lift the ban on driving mopeds for three years,” if a person was found to be in possession or use of drugs, as it would lift “the sanction of the withdrawal of the driver’s license and the currently envisaged moped suitability certificate” for all behavior aimed at the personal use of narcotics or psychotropic substances … “

Italian group is also pushing for psilocybin legalization

It would also allow Italian residents to use other psychoactive substances, especially psilocybin. “It should also be remembered that, with the exception of cannabis inflorescences (and mushrooms), all other narcotics necessarily require subsequent steps for the consumption of the substance, which are still punished in Article 73.” However, the group does not provide any information on which psychoactive substances are allowed would be.

The best-known supporters of referendum cannabis include the Luca Coscioni Association, Meglio Legale, Forum Droghe, Società della Ragione, “Antigone and by the Italian + Europa, Possible and Radical Parties”. The referendum has yet to be approved by the Supreme Court of Cassation and the Constitutional Court of Italy to be run as an electoral measure next year.

On September 8, the judiciary committee of the Italian lower house of the Italian parliament declared that residents could grow up to four cannabis plants for personal use and increased the sentence for illegal cannabis sales from six to ten years. It’s been two years since the Italian Supreme Court made it legal to grow, although it’s still illegal to grow in the UK.