The sentence for small-scale drug dealing in Italy
Italian law treats a minor drug offence as a separate offence, not as a discount on trafficking. The range is narrow, it was raised twice in recent years, and where it sits decides whether you can be held in prison before trial.
Provision: Art. 73 c.5 D.P.R. 309/1990
Checked 15/08/2026.
What you are facing in custodial terms
Article 73(5) of the drug statute carries six months to five years in prison and a fine of €1,032 to €10,329.
There is a second, harsher version of the same provision. Where the conduct is found not to have been a one-off, the range becomes eighteen months to five years, with a fine of €2,500 to €10,329. The ceiling is identical; the floor triples. Which version applies is usually the single most contested point in these cases.
Why the ceiling matters more than it looks. The maximum was raised from four years to five by the Caivano decree in 2023. That one-year change moved the offence across the threshold at which a judge may order custody in prison before trial. At four years it was effectively closed off; at five it is open.
A further change in 2026 removed habitual and continuous conduct from the scope of the minor offence altogether. Where that applies the case is not sentenced under this provision at all, and the ranges above do not describe it.
Your options
Three routes are realistically open and they lead to different places.
- Probation. The Constitutional Court held in 2025 that this offence qualifies, reversing the position the 2023 increase had created. Completed successfully, it extinguishes the offence.
- Negotiated sentence. A sentence agreed with the prosecutor and approved by the judge. Fast, and it caps exposure, but it is recorded.
- Trial on the papers. A reduction of one third on whatever sentence follows, in exchange for giving up the full hearing.
The choice is rarely about which is shortest. It is about whether you can afford a record, and whether the case has to end before a residence permit expires.
Serving the sentence
A short custodial sentence in Italy does not automatically mean prison. Sentences below certain thresholds can be served under supervision in the community, and those thresholds were rewritten by the 2022 reform.
If you are not resident in Italy this is harder — not because the law excludes you, but because community measures assume a fixed address and supervision a court can actually exercise. Where you will live is therefore an argument to prepare early, not an afterthought.
If you are a national of another EU member state, a sentence can in principle be transferred to be served at home under the EU framework on mutual recognition of custodial sentences.
Effect on your right to stay in Italy
A drug conviction is among the categories that most directly threaten a residence permit, and the effect does not depend on whether you actually go to prison.
A conviction can support refusal or revocation of a permit, and drug offences appear expressly among the grounds justifying removal. A negotiated sentence counts for this purpose: agreeing a sentence closes the criminal case, it does not neutralise the immigration consequence.
If you are applying for citizenship or for long-term resident status, a pending case is enough to stall the application before any conviction exists.
Common questions
What is the penalty for small-scale dealing in Italy?
Article 73(5) carries six months to five years in prison plus a fine of €1,032 to €10,329. Where the conduct was not a one-off, the range rises to eighteen months to five years, with a fine of €2,500 to €10,329.
Provisions relied on
- Art. 73 c.5 D.P.R. 309/1990
- L. 159/2023 (decreto Caivano)
- Corte cost. n. 90/2025
Checked 15/08/2026. Italian sentencing provisions change; if you are reading this long afterwards, ask us to confirm.