CENTER-LEFT ELEMENTS SOFT-PEDALING ON DRUGS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ROME 001369 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR INL, INL/AAE, INL/PC, IO/T CIA FOR CNC NDDS FOR RAABE DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO ONDCP - BAUM, SISSON, SIVILLI USEU FOR MCANULTY E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/20/2022 TAGS: SNAR UNCDN EU AF IT SUBJECT: CENTER-LEFT ELEMENTS SOFT-PEDALING ON DRUGS REF: A) VIENNA 167 B) ROME 1064 Classified By: A/Polcouns Gabriel Escobar for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: During last year's electoral campaign, the center-left coalition consistently made clear that a top priority would be to abolish a relatively tough anti-drug law passed by the previous Berlusconi government. However, it is not clear that coalition members who advocate overhauling the Berlusconi law will succeed in reducing or eliminating sanctions for possession of some drugs. The domestic debate has spilled over into foreign policy, with some ministers calling for measures to soften the anti-narcotics campaign in Afghanistan by instituting an opium buyout program. We will seek occasions to interact with key government officials to help shape the internal debate. End summary. (U) Center-right Clamps Down; Center-Left Cries Foul -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The former center-right government of Silvio Berlusconi hailed the March 2006 Fini-Giovanardi law as a bold attempt to curb growing drug consumption in Italy. The law eliminated the distinction between hard and soft drugs, increased penalties for those convicted of trafficking, and established administrative penalties for lesser offenses. All forms of possession and trafficking are now illegal, but punishment depends on the severity of the infraction. During the 2006 election campaign, the center-left declared its intention to overturn the law. Soon after the Prodi government was elected, Minister of Health Livia Turco reiterated that scrapping the law would be a top priority. The center-left argued that the Fini-Giovanardi law was based on weak scientific information and rushed into law in the final months of the Berlusconi government without sufficient discussion in Parliament. (U) Turco Tries to Change the Rules . . . -------------- -------------- ¶3. (SBU) In August 2006, Turco issued a decree doubling the minimum (to one gram) of Cannabis that individuals could possess without penalty. Turco's stated goal was to use her administrative power to water down the Fini-Giovanardi law as much as possible until a substitute could be put before Parliament. She later noted that her intention was also to reduce the growing number of young people who were arrested for possession of Cannabis, which she said spiked 64 percent from May to October 2006. Turco underscored that the government's focus should be on traffickers and pushers, not users. The latter, she offered, should be directed to social groups and rehabilitation centers which could help them break the habit. In a separate but related move, Turco issued a decree in April 2007 that allows medicines derived from Cannabis to be used in drug therapies to relieve any kind of severe or chronic pain (see Ref B). ¶4. (SBU) Minister of Solidarity Ferrero--a member of the Communist Renewal Party (RC) who is designated as the GOI's overall drug coordinator--is Turco's main ally and possibly a greater instigator in trying to undermine the Fini Giovanardi law. He has publicly campaigned for new guidelines that raise the minimum amount of narcotics allowed across the board before punitive measures take effect. Ferrero maintains that new minimums should be set using scientific criteria and should give the judiciary authority to make case-by-case decisions on borderline instances. ¶5. (SBU) More broadly, Ferrero has asserted that the GOI approach to drug policy rests on four pillars: fighting drug traffickers, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation, and harm reduction. However, the stated goal of reducing the demand for drugs and enhancing the recovery of addicts lacks law enforcement provisions that would put downward pressure on domestic demand for drugs. In early 2007, Ferrero announced that the draft revision to the Fini-Giovanardi law would decriminalize personal drug consumption; eliminate fixed maximums allowed for personal use; "rebalance" sanctions for illicit trafficking in line with European norms; and look for ways to rehabilitate addicted persons without resorting to detention. Inherent in this new plan is ROME 00001369 002 OF 003 extracting Cannabis from the list of "hard" drugs. (Comment: Some members of parliament--and many Italians--do not believe Cannabis is a dangerous drug. End comment.) (U) . . . But the Judiciary Puts on the Brakes. -------------- -------------- ¶6. (SBU) In March 2007, a regional administrative court ruled that Turco did not have the authority to unilaterally change the Fini-Giovanardi law, and held that any changes had to be made in collaboration with other ministers and using scientific or technical information showing the potential health impact. Non-profit and social organizations hailed the decision, noting that, given the rise in Cannabis use among young people and the transition from Cannabis to more dangerous drugs, Turco's move sent the wrong message to young people. (SBU) Weak Support for Policy Changes -------------- -------------- ¶7. (SBU) The Turco-Ferrero partnership does not sit well with some in the center-left, a reflection of the often conflicting dynamics in the nine-party coalition that brings together moderate centrists and far left-wing elements. At a public conference in March 2007, Interior Minister Amato weighed in on the topic, arguing that Italy desperately needed stronger anti-drug campaigns--he proposed testing university students for possession and consumption of controlled substances. The drug problem in Italy, Amato underscored, cannot be written off as a personal matter when trafficking (to satisfy domestic demand) involves organized crime networks and recruitment of individuals to serve as couriers. ¶8. (SBU) Guido Lenzi, Amato's diplomatic adviser, dismissed Ferrero's promises to overturn the Fini-Giovanardi law and told us that it was unlikely many would take his proposals seriously. A political aide to Justice Minister Mastella told Poloff that Ferrero does not make drug policy alone and she did not think his pronouncements would have any practical effect in curbing existing drug enforcement efforts. Enrico Valvo at the Foreign Ministry's Office of Counterterrorism and Counternarcotics told Poloff that Ferrero's statements do not necessarily indicate a policy shift, but rather an initial position for further internal government discussion. Valvo insisted that any proposal to change existing law would require consultation with other ministers (including, at a minimum, Amato and Mastella),approval by the full cabinet, and a vote in parliament. (SBU) The Afghanistan Angle -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Ferrero used a UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) meeting in March 2007 to express concern about poppy eradication efforts in Afghanistan and announce that the GOI supported a pilot program for opium buyout. (See Ref A) Minister of International Trade Bonino--a former European Commissioner known to follow Afghan issues closely--quickly backed the plan, saying that it was worthwhile to consider unconventional methods to help poor people in Afghanistan. ¶10. (SBU) Valvo, who accompanied Ferrero to the CND meeting in Vienna, told Poloff that Ferrero's comments were linked to the broader domestic debate at that time involving Italy's foreign military missions. Valvo said most center-left parties in Parliament--including Ferrero's RC--demanded language on opium reconversion in Afghanistan as one of their prices for approving Italy's foreign missions bill. Foreign Minister D'Alema, who leads the Democrats of the Left Party (the center-left's largest) did not support this language, according to Valvo. The Foreign Ministry relented only after the language was modified enough to give the GOI ample flexibility. In practical terms, Valvo said, the GOI is unlikely to put any buyout programs in place, although he acknowledged that much depends on partisan forces in parliament. ¶11. (SBU) Afghan Ambassador Maroofi June 13 told Poloff that neither Ferrero nor any other GOI official has approached him on the poppy cultivation issue. He said he was surprised ROME 00001369 003 OF 003 that members of the cabinet would promote this plan without first seeking official Afghan input. The Ambassador said such a plan had virtually no support in Afghanistan--it is firmly opposed by the government, he noted--except for the few individuals who stand to benefit from poppy cultivation. The direct beneficiaries will not be the poppy farmers, Maroofi insisted. In any case, Maroofi noted, the Afghan government could not support this project because it was explicitly forbidden in the Koran. (C) Comment -------------- ¶12. (C) Some center-left politicians have adopted a softer line on drugs because they believe more focus on rehabilitation and less law enforcement will be more successful in halting or reducing Italians' growing dependency on drugs. Their strategy is in clear contrast to that of the Berlusconi government, and it accurately reflects the center-left's more liberal position on perceived personal liberties. The focus on Cannabis as the "softer" drug to decriminalize is easy because Cannabis is often portrayed in Italy as a recreational drug that even some politicians and celebrities have acknowledged partaking. Nevertheless, it is unclear that Ferrero or Turco will win enough support in the cabinet to significantly gut existing law. We will look for ways to engage GOI officials on drug issues generally and highlight the warnings from both the UN and the INCB on the downsides of so-called "soft" drugs. ¶13. (SBU) On the Afghanistan opium buyout, it is clear that Ferrero and Bonino are speaking to the biases of their constituencies rather than to the facts of the situation in Afghanistan. We were struck by the Afghan ambassador's surprise that GOI officials, purportedly seeking to improve the Afghans' situation, have not sought out official Afghan views on the matter. The upcoming visit of A/S Richard Boucher and INL PDAS Tom Schweich for the July 2-3 Afghanistan rule of law donor's conference may provide an opportunity for helpful bilateral discussions on this subject. Spogli