In Italy, the impact of illicit drug use was first felt on a broad scale during the mid-1960s. The patterns in Italy were similar to those seen in other European countries. They seemed to be associated with the contestation by young people of existing political and social situations. As in the United States at the same time, this phase was influenced by the cultures of the East—especially those of the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East—in all of which some amount of drug use was not illegal. Cannabis sativa, the HEMP plant that produced MARIJUANA, GANJA, HASHISH, and other variants, was particularly unhampered by legislation there and was enjoyed by locals and outsiders, some of whom found ways to smuggle it into the West, where in many instances it was illegal.

In addition, the OPIOIDS (especially HEROIN...