Pass The Dutchie, Don't Sell It, Judge Tells Kids

[superjoint]

By Sophie Arie in Rome
Source: Guardian Unlimited

Italian teenagers can smoke joints on school trips, as long as they are sharing them rather than selling them, an Italian court has ruled.
Francesco, a student from Rome, was caught with enough hashish for 40 joints during a school excursion two years ago when he was 17, and fined €1,250 (£830) for selling it to his classmates.

He appealed saying he had bought the hashish on behalf of a "smoking group" of friends and simply collected their financial contributions afterwards.

The court ruled on Thursday that this constituted "group possession", and was therefore not a crime. The substance "could easily have been consumed during the many days of the trip", the court ruling said.

Since 1993, possession of hashish is legal in Italy, though it can lead to police seizing a driving licence or passport. Growing, selling or distributing it can mean a prison sentence.

Possession was made legal in Italy as early as 1975, after a high profile campaign by members of the Radical party, who publicly handed out free joints to crowds and on television.

But in 1990, possession was recriminalised, as America launched its "war on drugs". Three years later 52% of Italians voted in a referendum to legalise marijuana for personal use.

While Canada, Spain and Australia, as well as some US states, have legalised the medical use of marijuana as a treatment for chronic illnesses, in Italy doctors still have to obtain authorisation from a magistrate.

Source: Guardian Unlimited, The (UK)
Author: Sophie Arie in Rome
Published: Saturday, February 8, 2003
Copyright: 2003 Guardian Newspapers Limited
Contact: letters@guardian.co.uk
Website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/

[smokin&tokin]

damn thats kewl, now why cant america be more like that? then we could smoke at school and shit and not get in trouble! badass!!!