Italy likely to decide on decriminalizing cannabis

Italy will likely decide on decriminalizing cannabis next year after advocates garnered enough signatures to force a referendum.

Organizers said Saturday they were able to obtained the 500,000 signatures required to trigger a referendum on the measure in seven days, according to Reuters.

The signatures will have to be verified, and organizers continued calling for people to add their names before the end of September, the news outlet reported.

“This is an extraordinary result but it’s not surprising,” the referendum’s organizers said, according to Reuters. “The speed of the support shows the desire for change on cannabis.”

The proposal seeks to legalize growing weed for personal use and ease penalties on other cannabis-related crimes, Reuters reported.

Consuming cannabis is not criminalized under Italian law and medical marijuana is permitted, according to CNN. Buying, selling and mass cultivating weed is illegal and is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Italy initially decriminalized recreational marijuana in 1993 but later passed a law in 2006 that penalized consumers and tripled prison sentences for selling and possessing the drug until 2014.

Earlier this month, cultivating small amounts of cannabis for personal use was decriminalized, CNN reported, citing Italian news outlet Ansa. However, the maximum jail time for dealing weed increased from six years to 10 years.