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

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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
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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 . . .
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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

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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.
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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
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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

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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