Italy Begins Massive Drug Crackdown
Italy's government has started a massive drug crackdown, which includes putting marijuana on par with heroin and cocaine. Opposition criticized the new policies for placing marijuana users in jail when there is already dangerous overcrowding and a quarter of inmates are addicts. The crackdown is especially controversial because it is directly against "a 1993 referendum in which Italians voted to decriminalise the use of drugs, allowing only pushers and traffickers to be prosecuted."