Italy

But these amounts do not refer to the actual weight of the drug, but instead to the weight of its active ingredient. Thus, in the case of marijuana, the law sets the quantity of THC at half a gram, but with marijuana averaging perhaps 10% THC, that would equate to 5 grams of pot. Similarly, one-quarter gram of 100% pure heroin would be considered the same as one gram of 25% pure heroin.

The quantities were set by the government's Ministerial Commission and presented by Minister for Parliamentary Relations Carlo Giovanardi. "Up until today there's been total arbitrariness and it can happen that a drug addict can be convicted or not only on the basis of the judge's discretion, setting aside the type of quantity of the drug. This way, however, there are valid scientific parameters and under the threshold is personal use for which the drug user will not be penalized, but seen as a victim who wants to reform," Giovanardi said in a statement. But above these thresholds, "we want the law to step in because the traffickers of death must be beaten," he added.

Under the new law, persons caught with less than the threshold amounts are subject to administrative sanctions such as loss of drivers' licenses or passports, those who are determined to be "small time" dealers face drug treatment, and "traffickers" face from six to 20 years in prison.