To the attention of Senator Nicola Mancino

President of the Senate

To the attention of Right Honorable Luciano Violante

President of the Chamber of Deputies

Brussels, 29 October 1997

Mr. Chairman of the Senate,

Mr. Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies,

Last Saturday, our friend and former colleague Marco Pannella intended to renew his gesture of civil disobedience to solicit the Italian Parliament to face, without further delays, the serious situation concerning drugs. Thousands of persons are in prison for keeping or consuming small quantities of substances that are today prohibited within the framework of increasingly evident failure of the prohibitionist laws that are valid today.

Pannellas initiative takes place, not by coincidence, amidst the multiplication of initiatives - from Great Britain to Denmark, from Greece to Luxembourg and Germany - willing to modify radically the existing laws and, at least, to open parliamentary debates.

We consider the gesture of Pannella and his companions to have great political and civil value. Without wishing to interfere with your autonomous deliberations, we permit ourselves to address the Presidents of the two houses of Parliament in order to let them know that this action, through the reasons that have inspired it, is fully supported. We are confident that the Italian Parliament can provide an adequate reply to the seriousness of this plague.

Accept the expression of our distinguished regards,