Are Italy Saying you can Grow your own?

Possessing and cultivating cannabis does not constitute any crime as long as the person does not give the substance to third parties. This outcome has been outlined in a Milan Court of Appeals ruling against a woman caught in possession of 750 grams of cannabis and three large plants. 

The defence attorney emphasized that there was no evidence to support that the woman, who has a medical prescription for cannabis, gave or sold cannabis to third parties. Transferring to third parties does not only mean selling but also socially sharing with others.

"Every citizen is free to grow their own cannabis," explains defence attorney Marco Baroncini, professor of Criminal Procedure at the Institute of Criminology in Vibo Valentia. He says: "Beyond therapeutic or medical use, growing for personal use is always allowed. What is prohibited is the transfer to third parties. However, without clear evidence of guilt (such as precision balances, pre-packaged doses, large sums of cash, etc.) the crime does not exist. This is what the law literally says and, in my defendant's case, for the first time it emerged within a courtroom for the conduct of cultivation; I do not recall any other similar ruling. So any debate about liberalization is useless because it is already provided for in Italy if at all, we will have to talk about commercialization, which is currently not allowed at all."

Until now, personal use has been a discriminator for Cannabis possession but never has the rule been applied for cultivation, moreover supported by the discovery of as large an amount of cannabis. "During the first hearing, the judge recognized the purpose of personal use for my client," Professor Baroncini continued, "but he had nevertheless pronounced a sentence of 16 months and 800 euros fine for cultivation. 

About ten days after the initial ruling, however, came the intervention of the United Sections of the Supreme Court of Cassation, which pointed out that cultivation for exclusively personal use is not a crime.

In this respect, the amount of substance, cultivation, or possession does not matter. The only thing to be proven to support an accusation is that there is a transfer to another subject. The Milan Court of Appeals ruling thus puts it black and white that cultivation for personal use without transfer to a third person does not constitute a crime and is therefore allowed to all Italian citizens.

The scope of this ruling could be historic and welcomed by the many sufferers who use cannabis for therapeutic purposes. It will be enough to have the foresight to avoid any transfer and sharing, to allow them to bypass legal obstacles and achieve complete independence in regards to the medicine that gives them a better quality of life.

 Moreover, the same can also apply to recreational growers who will no longer have to prove their innocence if caught possessing plants or substances.