Italy Constitutional Court blocks vote on referendum to legalize marijuana cultivation News
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Italy Constitutional Court blocks vote on referendum to legalize marijuana cultivation

Italy’s Constitutional Court rejected a request Wednesday to hold a referendum on legalizing the cultivation of both marijuana and other psychoactive plants and fungi.

In December, activists were able to compile more than 630,000 signatures for the measure, validated by a separate court last month. Although there were more than enough valid signatures for the ballot to be placed before the court, the top court needed to determine the legality of the proposal’s provisions.

Marco Cappato, a former member of the European parliament, claimed Wednesday that the issues with the proposal stemmed from issues with connecting subparagraphs of the drug law. Promoters of the referendum apparently made a mistake in what they claimed to be legalizing, with the current version of the referendum resulting in the legalization of most hard drugs. As a result, the court had to shelf the referendum because of its unconstitutionality.

The referendum committee responded via Facebook and Twitter posts. The committee stated: “Today’s [decision] first and foremost is a defeat for the Institutions that are no longer able to comprehend a major part of this country.”

President of the court Giuliana Amato argued that, considering the broad multi-drug mistake in the referendum, passing the proposal would violate international obligations because it did not even reference marijuana. Instead, it focused on poppy, cocaine, and other hard drugs.

Last year, Italy’s House Justice Committee advanced a reform that decriminalizes small-scale home cultivation of marijuana for personal use. As activists try to correct their proposal, they will not be the first European country to legalize cannabis. Malta enacted a reform in December of last year, with Germany following close behind.

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