Thanks to an agreement with the Albanian police, an Italian Guardia di Finanza aircraft has been flying reconnaissance missions over the neighboring territory of Albania where they claim to have discovered more than 500 cannabis plantations ready to supply the European market with a harvest of nearly a thousand tons; a market value of €4.5 billion. This is the same Italian Guardia di Finanza who is supposed to be concerning itself with the financial well-being of Italy and the overall economic health of Europe. With all the money spent on high-tech camera equipment and a very expensive plane, they were able to find what anyone could find with a simple Google search: Lazarat, the cannabis cultivation capital of Europe. That money, time and technology could have been used to contribute to what little efforts are being made to restore the Italian economy. Furthermore, by basically declaring war on a small Albanian village, who depend entirely on cannabis, the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance, ironically, is contributing to the destruction of a local economy which sustains men, women, children, schools and everything that these villagers need to survive and thrive. Historically, the Albanian government tended to allow this small community to live peacefully, but now Italy is pressuring them to take military action against farmers who are simply trying to provide for their families and fellow villagers. The people of Lazarat, however, are not willing to have their lifeline cut off. Last year, during an attempted blitz, the Police Commissioner of Lazarat said, “I saw a 70-year-old grandmother shooting at us with a heavy machine gun.” Where does one see a 70 year-old grandmother with a heavy machine gun? I'll tell you where... in a community where its members stick together to protect their family and local economy. The authorities in Italy would like to have us believe that this grandmother is some sort of narco-terrorist. But have they considered that this grandmother has children and grandchildren, and maybe, just maybe, her main concern is the well-being of her future generations and fellow community members. In fact, it is said that up to 90 percent of the village residents — 7,000 in all — are believed to take part in the overall business of cannabis cultivation. How does the Italian Ministry of Economics and Finance plan on helping this village when it ends up with a 90% unemployment rate? After reading many comments posted in Italian on this issue, I can say that the average person in Italy is not happy with this war on cannabis and would much rather see those government funds spent more wisely and compassionately in efforts to revive our economy.

On the 20th of March 2013 two young men from the town of Ferrara in Northern Italy were absolved by the local Court for possession of 4 cannabis plants found growing in their apartment. Carlo Alberto Zaina, the lawyer who defended the case, challenged the constitutionality of Article 73 of the draconian Giovanardi-Fini anti-drug laws which covers the production, trafficking and possession of illegal drugs or psychotropic substances. The lawyer went further in his defense citing the 2004 EU Council Framework Decision 757 which states that drug offences do not apply “when it is committed by its perpetrators exclusively for their own personal consumption as defined by national law.” The Judge having heard the case decided to announce a final ruling rather than send the case to the Supreme Court to address the constitutionality of the charges against the two young men. Having done so, the Judge has set an important president for indoor cannabis growers in Italy.