Italian MP hands out hashish again

The Guardian, Monday October 13, 1997

MARCO Pannella, the Italian politician convicted last month of giving away hashish, was at it again yesterday - distributing free bags of the drug to a crowd in Piazza Navona in the centre of Rome. Mr Pannella, who has campaigned for the legalisation of soft drugs, presided over the handing out of some 450 bags, each containing half a gram, about a fifthieth of an ounce, of hashish. Asked where he got the drug, he replied: "We got it from the market. We took it away from the Mafia." Two supporters - an Italian aide, Rita Bernadini, and a Belgian MEP, Olivier Dupuis - turned themselves in to police to publicise the campaign, promoters said. Mr Pannella himself was arrested at a later rally after he offered a police officer a bag and told him to "have a good smoke", the Italian news agency Ansa said. - AP, Rome.