The law on drugs (updating, alterations and integrations of law n.685 of 22 December 1975, concerning narcotics and psychotropic substances and the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of the relative states of addiction) definitively passed today by the Senate of the Italian Republic, consists of 39 articles, therefore it is not possible, for the moment, to reproduce the whole text.

We hereby reproduce the most important articles:

Art.13

1. After article n. 71 of law n.685 of 22 December, the following are inserted:

"Art. 71-bis (production and illicit traffic of narcotic or psychotropic substances).

1. Any person who, without the authorization specified in art.15, cultivates, produces, manufactures, extracts, refines, sells, offers or markets, under any circumstance gives or receives, distributes, peddles, purchases, transports, exports, imports, provides others with, sends, passes or ships, delivers for any whatsoever purpose or in any case illicitly detains, with the exclusion of the hypotheses listed in articles 72 and 72-bis, narcotic or psychotropic substances included in tables I and III (*) provided for by article 12, is punished with imprisonment from eight to twenty years and with a fine from fifty million lire to fife hundred million lire.

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4. If any one of the facts listed in commas 1, 2 and 3 concerns narcotic or psychotropic substances included in tables II and IV (**) provided for by article 12, the imprisonment from two to six years is applied, and a fine from ten million lire to one hundred and fifty million lire.

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(*) Table I includes opium and its derivatives (heroin and morphine), cocaine and hallucinogens.

Table II includes barbiturate substances.

(**) Table III includes the derivatives of cannabis (hashish and marijuana).

Table IV includes "substances used for normal therapeutical purposes, for which concrete dangers of physical and mental addiction have been ascertained".

Art. 15

1. Article 72 of law n. 685 of 22 December 1975 is replaced by the following:

"Art. 72 - (Administrative sanctions). -

1. Any person who, for personal use, illicitly imports, purchases or in any case withholds narcotic or psychotropic substances in doses not exceeding the average daily quantity, established on the basis of the criteria listed in comma 1 of article 72-quater, is submitted to the administrative sanction of the suspension of the driver's licence, of the gun licence, of the passport and any other equivalent document or, if the person is a foreigner, of the

residence permit for the purpose of tourism, or the prohibition of obtaining such documents for a period from two to four months in the case of narcotic or psychotropic substances listed in tables I and III provided for by article 12, and for a period from one to three months in the case of narcotic or psychotropic substances listed in tables II and IV provided for by the same article 12. The person charged with the application of the administrative sanction is the prefect of the locality where the fact was committed.

2. If the facts provided for by comma 1 concern substances listed in tables II and IV, and if there are the elements to presume that that person will abstain, in the future, from committing them again, instead of the sanction, and only once, the prefect establishes the provision by formally inviting the person to no longer make use of those substances, warning the person of the consequences and harms for him.

3. In any case, if the person committing the fact is a minor and if the sanction listed in comma 1 cannot be usefully applied to the person, the prefect establishes the procedure by formally inviting the person to stop making use of narcotic or psychotropic substances, warning the person of the harmful consequences.

4. The following norms are applied, as compatible, of section II of Paragraph I and the second comma of article 62 of law n.689 of 24 November 1981. The prefect will also provide to the notification of the fact, provided for by comma 2 of article 96 of the present law.

5. Having ascertained the facts, the organs of the criminal police proceed to the immediate notification, if possible, and without delay notify the fact to the prefect.

6. Within 5 days from the notification, the prefect summons the person to appear before him or before his delegate, in order to ascertain, after a conversation with the person, the reasons of the violation, and to establish the provisions appropriate to prevent further violations. In carrying out such activity the prefect is assisted by the personnel of an operative unit created by each prefecture.

7. The organs of the criminal police may invite the person to whom they applied the immediate notification to immediately appear before the prefect, if possible, or before his delegate, in order to proceed with the direct conversation provided for by comma 6.

8. If the person is a minor, the prefect summons, if possible and appropriate, the person's parents or relatives, informs them of the circumstances and informs them of the therapeutical and rehabilitation centres that are present in the territory of the province, encouraging the encounter with such centres.

9. The prefect, in the event that the person voluntarily requests to undergo a therapeutical and social-rehabilitative programme, specified in article 97, and if it is appropriate, suspends the procedure and decides that the person be sent to the public service for drug addictions for the in order to establish a programme, fixing a term for the presentation and acquiring all the necessary data to evaluate the person's overall behaviour during the realization of the programme, without prejudice to the professional secrecy provided for by the current norms for all the provisions of the present law.

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12. If the person does not report to the public service for drug addictions within the established term, or does not start the programme according to the established provisions or interrupts it without a justified reason, the prefect once again summons the person before himself and invites him to respect the programme, informing him as to the possible consequences he may face. If the person does not appear before the prefect, or declares to refuse the programme or interrupts it again without a justified reason, the prefect informs the Public Prosecutor of the magistrate's court or the Public Prosecutor of the juvenile court, transmitting the papers for the application of the measures specified in article 72-bis. The prefect proceeds in the same way when the facts listed in commas 1 and 2 of the present article are committed for the third time.

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Art. 16

1. After article 72 of law n.685 of 22 December 1975, the following are inserted:

"Art. 72-bis (Penal sanctions).

1. Any person who, after the second invitation of the prefect, provided for by comma 1 of Art. 72, refuses or interrupts the therapeutical or social-rehabilitative programme, is submitted, for a period from three to eight months in the case of narcotic or psychotropic substances included in tables I and III provided for by article 12, or for a period from two to four months in the case of narcotic or psychotropic substances included in tables II and IV provided for by the same article 12, to one or more of the following measures:

a) the prohibition to leave the municipality of residence, except with an authorization granted upon request of the person for ascertained reasons of treatment or rehabilitation;

b) the obligation to appear at least twice a week at the local State police station or at the Headquarters of the Carabinieri competent for the specific territory;

c) the obligation to return to his or her home, or in another private home, within an established hour;

d) the prohibition to enter the public places established by the decree;

e) the suspension of the driver's licence, of the gun licence with the prohibition of detaining personal weapons of any kind, of the passport or equivalent document;

f) the obligation to engage in a non-remunerative activity for the benefit of the community, at least one working day a week, an activity to be carried out within the State, the Regions, the provinces, the municipalities or institutions and organizations providing assistance, education, civil protection, safeguard of the environment, by means of the stipulation, when necessary, of special conventions with the Interior Ministry;

g) the seizure of the vehicles, if they are owned by the author of the offence, with which narcotic or psychotropic substances have been transported or kept, and in any case the seizure of such substances;

h) the assignment to the social service according to the provisions established by commas 5 to 10 of article 47 of law n.354 of 26 July 1975, in replacement of article 11 of law n.663 of 10 October 1986;

i) the suspension of the residence permit issued to a foreigner for the purpose of tourism.

2. The same measures are applied to any person who, having already incurred twice the administrative sanctions established by article 72, commits one of the facts listed in comma 1 of such article.

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Art. 25

1. After article 84 of law n. 685 of 22 December 1975, the following paragraph is inserted:

"Paragraph III- Provisions concerning the activity of the criminal police.

Art. 84-bis (Simulated purchase of drugs).

1. Granted the disposition laid down by art. 51 of the penal code, the officers of the criminal police appointed to special anti-drug squads who, for the sole purpose of acquiring elements of evidence relative to the offences provided for by the present law and during the execution of anti-crime actions specifically ordered by the central anti-drug service, or, in agreement with the latter, by the questor or by the commander of the group of Carabinieri or by the Guardia di Finanza or by the commander of the unit of the excise and revenue police, proceed with the purchase of narcotic or psychotropic substances, are not punishable.

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