(ANSA) - Foreign Minister and Deputy Premier Gianfranco Fini defended a renewed government drive to crack down on drugs on Wednesday, insisting that a new controversial drug bill was "not repressive".
Speaking on the sidelines of a national conference here on drug addiction, the minister said that "this bill is not repressive except in its provisions for dealers."
"It isn't about sending pot smokers to jail but about instruction and prevention," said Fini, the leader of the rightist National Alliance (AN) and one of the main architects of the bill.
"The principle of the bill is that there is no such thing as good drugs and bad drugs, soft drugs and hard drugs," he said.
"Fighting drugs is a moral duty... It has to be understood that taking drugs is not a right and above all, means a fear of living," he concluded.
The bill enshrines a "zero tolerance" approach to all types of drugs and makes possession of hard and soft drugs a criminal offence with jail terms of up to 20 years for dealers.
An older form of the bill has been languishing in parliament for more than a year.
In a renewed drive to get the measures approved before the end of the legislature next year, a shorter, streamlined version has been presented which cuts the original number of articles from 106 to 22.
Fini said his party would ask other parties in the governing coalition to put the bill to a confidence vote in a bid to speed its approval.
It reverses Italy's current drug policies by targeting soft drug users, and ending or blurring the distinctions between soft and hard drugs and possession and trafficking.
It abolishes the so-called 'minimum daily dose' which Fini maintains has defanged Italy's drug laws and prevented police from distinguishing between drug-pushing and personal use.
People found with any drugs, whether soft or hard, face prosecution, with automatic jail terms of up to six years above a certain quantity. Below that quantity, offenders can be fined or have their driving licence and passport taken away. Addicts can avoid jail by agreeing to undergo rehabilitation.
The crackdown has sparked controversy, particularly as it would override a 1993 referendum in which Italians voted to decriminalise the use of drugs, allowing only pushers and traffickers to be prosecuted.
Critics argue that prohibition would force users underground, benefit the Mafia and do nothing to help addicts.
They say the drug possession amounts above which users face prosecution are very low and that millions of Italians would face jail if caught. Drug rehabilitation centres have also attacked the bill, questioning plans to create rival privately-run institutions.
They say this could sap State funding for public centres and drug abuse prevention in general. They also fear centres will be overrun. According to recent statistics, 33% of Italian teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19 have smoked pot at least once,
while 10-12% have tried cocaine, 11% ecstasy and 7-10% crack. Among adult Italians, almost 10% are reported to use pot
on a regular basis.
There are an estimated 300,000-320,000 heroin addicts in Italy, more than 20,000 of whom are in jail. In 2001, 150,300
Italians were treated for drug addiction.
