War on drugs costs Italy 22 billion euros per year

The war on drugs costs Italy 22 billion euros (24.7 billion U.S. dollars) per year in lost revenue, according to a new report released Friday under the terms of Italy's Jervolino-Vassalli law, which is at the base of the country's drug policy.

The 11th edition of the Libro Bianco Sulle Droghe (White Paper on Drugs) was released Friday in conjunction with the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, a day created by the United Nations "as an expression of its determination to strengthen action and cooperation to achieve the goal of an international society free of drug abuse."

Overall, the international date was used by various groups with diverse points of view -- those calling for lighter enforcement for recreational drug use, those advocating for some drugs to be used as a kind of health therapy, and those warning that drug addiction is a growing danger.

The White Paper on Drugs, a collaborative effort between various advocacy groups, said that 37.8 percent of Italy's prison population is in jail for drug-related offenses, many of them minors.

The estimate is that the direct and indirect impacts of maintaining those prisoners are worth 22 billion euros, plus a slow criminal justice system, and a prison system working overcapacity.

The report, which is available in most bookstores, is formally presented to Italy's parliament on Friday.

The Jervolino-Vassalli law, passed by a national referendum in 1992, differentiates the way the law treats "light" and "heavy" drugs, and it commissioned regular studies of the trends related to Italians' drug habits.