Radicali Italiani will stage an act of civil disobedience tomorrow evening in Cuneo, with approximately ten activists publicly smoking cannabis in deliberate violation of Italian narcotics law. The demonstration, scheduled for 8 PM on Friday, June 5, 2026, aims to spotlight what the party describes as a counterproductive prohibition that enriches organized crime while criminalizing a substance they argue is less harmful than legal alcohol and tobacco.
Why This Matters
• Legal limbo persists: Italy's cannabis policy remains in judicial purgatory after the 2025 Security Decree banned even low-THC products, triggering court challenges now before both the EU Court of Justice and Italy's Constitutional Court.
• Criminal penalties remain: Possession and consumption of cannabis with THC above 0.5% still carry administrative sanctions under Italy's 1990 narcotics law, despite growing European momentum toward decriminalization.
• Public test case: Tomorrow's action is designed to force prosecutorial and judicial response, potentially accelerating constitutional review of current statutes.
The Cuneo Demonstration: Two-Part Strategy
The Radicali Italiani event unfolds in two stages tomorrow. At 6 PM, party officials will convene at Spazio Varco on Via Carlo Pascal to present La Repubblica della Paura (The Republic of Fear), a volume advancing eight concrete proposals on urban security policy directed at municipal administrations. Speakers include Filippo Blengino, national secretary of Radicali Italiani; Giuseppe Pagano, former Cuneo police chief; Patrizia De Grazia, the party's treasurer; plus national leadership figures Bianca Piscolla and Flavio Martino from the +Europa assembly. Attorney Roberto Guarino will moderate.
Following the book presentation, participants will move to Via Roma at the edge of Piazza Galimberti for the public cannabis consumption. Blengino emphasized in his announcement that "prohibition does not increase security—it reduces it," arguing the policy diverts law enforcement resources, enriches criminal enterprises, and unnecessarily compresses individual freedoms. The party has opened online registration for anyone wishing to join the action.
This marks the second time in 2026 Blengino has orchestrated such a protest. On April 20—international cannabis culture day—activists smoked in Piazza Montecitorio outside Parliament in Rome. Blengino has also faced denunciation for symbolically "selling" CBD cannabis in prior acts of civil disobedience targeting the Security Decree.
Italy's Cannabis Legal Maze
The 2025 Security Decree Impact
Italy's cannabis regulation has devolved into what legal observers call a "zona grigia"—a gray zone where formal prohibition coexists with uneven enforcement and conflicting court rulings. The chaos stems from the April 2025 Security Decree (D.L. 48/2025, converted to Law 80/2025), whose Article 18 banned the sale, possession, and distribution of hemp inflorescences (cannabis light), even those with THC below 0.5% and no psychotropic effect. The measure effectively reversed permissions granted by the 2016 Law 242, which had allowed cultivation of industrial hemp.
Ongoing Court Challenges
Multiple tribunals—Sassari, Brindisi, and Trani among them—have since ordered seized products returned, recognizing the legality of hemp commerce within EU-approved THC limits. In November 2025, the Council of State suspended its judgment and referred the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union, whose ruling may take one to two years. Separately, the Constitutional Court is reviewing Article 18's constitutionality following a February 2026 ordinance from the Brindisi tribunal.
Consequently, many CBD flower retailers continue operating, leveraging favorable case law even as the statute technically forbids their business. Meanwhile, DPR 309/1990 still subjects possession and use of cannabis with THC above 0.5% to administrative sanctions rather than criminal prosecution—but the line between decriminalization and legalization remains stark.
The "Io Coltivo" Bill and Europe's Shifting Landscape
Senate Review and National Proposals
A popular-initiative bill titled "Io Coltivo" (I Cultivate) entered Senate review in April 2026, proposing to decriminalize home cultivation of up to four female plants for personal use and permit associative cultivation. The measure, promoted by Radicali Italiani and the Luca Coscioni Association since a 2016 signature drive that gathered over 50,000 endorsements, would eliminate criminal penalties for personal use of all prohibited substances and mandate release of those imprisoned for acts that would cease to be crimes.
Blengino's party frames legalization as a public health and security policy, not merely a libertarian stance. Their platform contends regulated production would strip organized crime of revenue, reduce prison overcrowding, and standardize access to therapeutic cannabis nationwide.
European Momentum Toward Liberalization
Across Europe, momentum is building. Germany legalized recreational cannabis in April 2024, permitting adults to possess 25 grams in public, 50 grams at home, and grow three plants. Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001, treating possession as an administrative matter. The Czech Republic in 2026 authorized home cultivation of three plants and possession of up to 100 grams. Even Switzerland allows cannabis with THC under 1%, and the Netherlands tolerates sales through regulated coffee shops. Greece, Belgium, and Spain have all adopted varying degrees of decriminalization or tolerance for small quantities.
What This Means for Residents
For anyone living in Italy, the Cuneo action underscores the unsettled state of cannabis law. If you operate a CBD business, your legal footing depends on which tribunal's jurisdiction you fall under and whether prosecutors choose enforcement. If you consume cannabis recreationally, you remain subject to administrative fines—loss of driving license, passport confiscation—even as neighboring countries dismantle similar penalties.
The Io Coltivo bill's progress through the Senate will determine whether Italy follows the European trend or doubles down on prohibition. Advocacy groups argue the current framework wastes police hours on low-level possession cases while leaving cultivation and distribution entirely in criminal hands. Critics of liberalization, including elements within the center-right government, maintain that any easing sends the wrong signal on public health.
Tomorrow's demonstration in Cuneo is designed to force the issue into courtrooms and headlines, creating test cases that compel judges to confront the contradictions in existing statutes. Whether that accelerates reform or triggers harsher enforcement remains an open question—but the status quo, as both activists and many legal scholars acknowledge, is untenable.
Participants should be aware that voluntary violation of narcotics law carries real administrative consequences, including fines up to €2,000 and suspension of identity documents. Radicali Italiani frames acceptance of these penalties as the cost of civil disobedience, a calculated trade-off to provoke judicial and legislative response. For observers, the event offers a public stress test of Italy's commitment to prohibition in an era when much of Western Europe is moving the other direction.
