Meloni: ‘San Patrignano is a factory of hope. We must stop trivialising drugs’

‘San Patrignano is a source of hope and freedom’, ‘it has been a pioneering initiative; it represents something unique and exceptional, and it seemed natural and worthwhile to show our coalition partners what we mean when we talk about rehabilitation. The Latin root is ‘capere’: to recover means to take back, to reclaim, to regain possession of something that had been lost. This has been happening here for fifty years.”

In San Patrignano Giorgia Meloni opens the meeting of the European Coalition against Drugs, established in 2025 within the European Political Community at the initiative of Italy and the France of Emmanuel Macron. In the front row were the Under-Secretary Alfredo Mantovano, coordinator of the event, the ministers Carlo Nordio, Orazio Schillaci, Giancarlo Mazzi, Andrea Abodi and, of course, Letizia Moratti, co-founder of the historic rehabilitation community established by Vincenzo Muccioli.

A message from the Head of State, Sergio Mattarella, was delivered at the summit. “Criminal networks that organise drug trafficking know no borders. It is the duty of every state and of the entire international community to combat them rigorously,” warns the President, who returns to the subject of the younger generations. “The demand for these substances arises, like other forms of addiction – from alcoholism to gambling addiction, to new digital addictions – from social distress, isolation and fear of the future, particularly amongst the younger generations.”

“Those who come here,” Meloni emphasises, “are asked to rebuild their lives, piece by piece, reclaiming everything that drugs have taken away: their dignity, and peace with their past – which is essential for rebuilding their future. I am proud to have shone the European spotlight on this place, on its history, and on the lessons it teaches.” The Prime Minister recounts the story of Jessica, ‘scarred by years of cocaine use’: from Sassari to San Patrignano, ‘where she regains hope and realises her greatest dreams: to become a mother and do whatever she can to prevent other young people from going through what she went through’. Meloni has a message for her and the others: “Look at yourselves today. Ministers, officials and experts come here from all over Europe to learn something from you. You must be proud of yourselves, because you have become an example.”

‘All our determination’ is focused on the fight against organisations that ‘enslave people for money’. In Yerevan, where the second ECAD summit was held in May, three key areas of action were identified. The first is combating drug trafficking by sea, “through which around 80 per cent of drugs entering Europe illegally pass”, by ensuring safer ports and a coordinated maritime presence “including against traffickers’ new methods”. The second is the targeting of assets, ‘following the brilliant insight of two extraordinary Italian anti-Mafia magistrates, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino’: follow the money, meaning more seizures and confiscations and greater financial cooperation, including in relation to cryptocurrencies.