The 'Disneyland' of Drugs

By Mike Barr, Matthew Hickey, Heather Hurst, Catie Callaghan

As journalism students from Miami University, USA, we spent the semester studying the Amanda Knox trials, specifically the drug culture that played a role in her initial conviction and repeated acquittals. We had been warned that drug culture was pervasive in Perugia, Italy, and that the region was even referred to as the “the Disneyland of Drugs.” Before traveling to Perugia to see first hand what the culture was like, our group researched the drug problem in Italy as a whole. Here is what we found:

Statistics

Italy is in the midst of a drug problem that is progressively getting worse, but also improving at the same time, according to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. The centre's data indicates that large numbers of the Italian population are using addictive drugs. About 1.8% of the population uses cocaine, 1% use MDMA and .6% use amphetamines, the data shows. Perhaps worst of all, the country had an estimated 205,200 heroin users, according to 2015 numbers.

Although these are startling statistics, it is no surprise that Statista’s data ranks Italy as having the highest prevalence of problem drug use out of any European country. For every 1,000 Italians, Statista data shows that 9.95 inhabitants are problem drug users. That's the highest in Europe, followed by Latvia at 9.37 people per 1,000 and the UK at 9.16.

Meanwhile, Italian drug authorities have decreased drug-related public expenditures from a reported .18% of GDP in 2010.

The level of drug use in Italy is sporadically fluctuating. According to the centre, 61,145 Italians have violated drug laws and the data suggests this may be increasing. Although it seems the situation may be worsening, government drug seizures have been increasing consistently since 2013.

As Italy has the highest number of at risk opioid users, the country finds itself ranked 11th in Europe for drug deaths.

Experiences

Walking through the streets of Perugia, specifically the Piazza Danti, we saw groups using illegal drugs recreationally. On a November Monday night, a group of college-aged men were smoking something that smelled like cannabis. It was easy to spot a number of drug users and dealers offering up drugs to those around them as well.

Perugians we talked to seemed to have a relaxed view about drug usage.

Luca Mignamelli, a 51-year-old man raised in Perugia, said, “It is OK to use drugs. I’m not against them. I am totally for drugs. If we are going to be free, then we should do what we want. We are human beings and we all use drugs. Many of us use prostitution. I don’t care. It’s natural.”

Enzo D’Agostino, a 25-year-old Venezuelan bartender at Perugia's Dempsey's club, said that “drugs are very common...marijuana, heroin, anything.”

D’Agostino recalled a time in which he got home from work and saw a man shooting heroin into his arm outside of his apartment. D’Agostino admits that he shrugged his shoulders, as he found it to be ordinary. He is pessimistic at the future of drug-related activity in Perugia as he said, “I don’t think it’s good, but I guess you can’t really stop it either.”

Bruno Pipolo, a 26-year-old who has been living in Perugia for four years, implied that the discoteca is the best bet for finding drugs in Perugia. He told us, “If you go there at night... the people who go outside to smoke might know something for you. There are many people, young people, who are drunk and will want to talk about getting drugs.”

However, Pipolo still finds that the drug culture in Perugia is overrated and that there are not as many drugs as they say: “[When looking for drugs], it’s not whatever you want, it’s not so easy to get heroin, to get cocaine and everything. They sell hashish and maybe the marijuanas. I don’t know what made you come to Perugia to find [drugs] but it’s not like that.” Pipolo continued, “So you can find people smoking hashish or marijuana, but it is very difficult that you could find people using other stuff in public.”

Connection To Amanda Knox

Clearly, there is a persistent drug problem in Perugia as there has been for a number of years. After studying the Knox case, conducting research, and then witnessing for ourselves what goes on in the drug culture of Perugia, it is clear how easily Knox found drugs and people to use them with.

Knox and her ex-lover, Raffaele Solecito, eventually were acquitted in the brutal 2007 murder of her former roommate. But their testimony showed they had been smoking hash daily, “spending the seven days and nights before the crime in a fog of cannabis.” Rudy Guede, the man currently behind bars for the murder of Meredith Kercher, was alleged to be a drug dealer.

Early claims had called this murder a potential “drug-fueled sex attack” that Guede could not have pulled off alone. The world may never know what truly went down on that night, the first of November in 2007.

When asked about Knox, Pipolo said, “From [the trial] on, the number of students coming to Perugia was reduced, so you go from, let’s just say random numbers, 100 students with four drug dealers, to 20 students with four drug dealers -- so you can spot them easier. That’s why I think people started thinking Perugia was a big center for drug dealing.”

A mixed bag of opinion

Perugians do not hold a uniform view of the drug culture. Some locals do drugs and acknowledge that it is a problem, whereas others renounce the perception that the art-filled medieval city is a drug hub.

At night, though, the smokers are easy to spot outside bars, and in the shadows.