El Tribunal Constitucional italiano ha revocado la ley sobre drogas que triplicaba la pena para aquellos condenados por posesión o consumo de 'drogas blandas' como el cannabis. La normativa era considerada una de las causas de la superpoblación de las cárceles del país. La denominada ley Fini-Giovanardi equiparaba el uso, posesión, o venta de todas las drogas, ya fuesen duras o blandas, por lo que una persona acusada de vender hachís podía ser condenada a entre seis y veinte años de prisión o a pagar una multa de entre 26.000 y 260.000 euros.

El Senado mexicano debate una propuesta de ley para excarcelar a personas que cumplen sentencia por microconsumo o microposesión de cannabis sin fines comerciales. La iniciativa excluiría a quienes cometieron violencia o portaban una cantidad mayor a los 50 gramos. Actualmente las leyes en México clasifican como delitos de narcomenudeo la tenencia entre 5 gramos y 5 kilos de marihuana, un rango enorme que puede ser castigado con la misma pena: alrededor de tres años de prisión. (Veáse también: Iniciativa para disminuir la sobrepoblación penitenciaria)

In February, the Italian Constitutional Court ruled that most of the 2006 drug law norms were unconstitutional. Following this pronouncement, at the end of May, the Court of Cassation decided that people sentenced and incarcerated under the illegitimate norms have the right to be resentenced. The decision may affect about 10.000 prisoners detained for cannabis crimes.

Around 2,000 inmates convicted of low-level drug offences could be released in Ecuador under a new criminal code, as countries across the Americas slowly move away from harsh punishments for minor drug crimes. In an interview with El Comerico, Ecuador's chief public defender, Ernesto Pazmiño, said that thousands of people convicted of drug possession, street sales or acting as "mules" (couriers) will have their cases reassessed after the country's new Integrated Penal Code comes into force.

La nueva legislación sobre las drogas en Ecuador diferencia al expendedor en pequeña escala del gran traficante. Según este principio, la Defensoría Pública calcula que la entrada en vigencia del Código Orgánico Integral Penal (COIP) beneficiará a unas 2 000 personas privadas de libertad por microtráfico. Con base en esta ley, los ­detenidos podrían recuperar su libertad, siempre y cuando un juez determine que han pagado su condena.

A call has been made for the government to declare an amnesty on all arrests for the possession of under one pound of marijuana. The plea from the Ganja Future Growers Producers Association was made following the death of Mario Deane who was in the custody of the State. Deane was arrested and held at the Barnett Street police station lock-up in western Jamaica for possession of a marijuana spliff. While in custody, he was beaten and died in hospital a few days later.

The attorney general, Patrick Atkinson, must move with dispatch to determine, as the justice minister, Mark Golding, suggests, whether the police can proceed by issuing summonses to, rather than arresting, persons who are to be prosecuted for possession of small amounts of marijuana. The idea makes sense in the face of the Government's declared policy to decriminalise ganja use, but has added urgency following last week's death, apparently the result of a severe beating while in a Montego Bay police lock-up, of Mario Deane, who was arrested for a ganja cigarette. (See also: Ganja decision should not be based on votes)

In Latin America’s latest challenge to Washington’s “war on drugs,” Ecuador has quietly begun releasing thousands of convicted cocaine smugglers. The move is a result of the country’s new criminal law, which took effect August 10. It treats “drug mules” who commit the low-profit, high-risk offense more as vulnerable people exploited by cartels than as hardened criminals. Around 500 mules have already been freed and at least another 2,000 are expected to follow, says Jorge Paladines, national coordinator of the Public Defender’s Office.