Italy's lower house has given final approval to a home-detention scheme for drug and alcohol offenders serving sentences of eight years or less who agree to enter rehabilitation programmes in residential facilities. The Chamber of Deputies passed the government-originated bill by 153 votes to 42, with 82 abstentions, after opposition amendments were incorporated in the Senate.
Justice Minister Carlo Nordio estimated the measure could eventually apply to roughly 10,000 prisoners with drug addictions and 3,700 with alcohol problems, though ministry sources confirmed that 2026 budget provisions cover only 500 places on a multi-year basis. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the vote "a victory on multiple fronts". The law was promoted at a national conference on addictions held in Rome in November 2025.
The reform arrives as Italian prisons run at about 140 percent capacity, with 64,645 inmates in space built for 46,242. Twenty-four prison suicides have been recorded since the start of the year.