Italian prisons had a “real crowding rate” of 113% in June 2021, with 53,637 people occupying the approximately 47,000 places actually available, according to the annual report of prisoners’ rights association Antigone presented on Thursday. The suicide count has also shot up. Of the 189 prisons across the country, 117 exceeded the 100% occupancy rate, with some prisons like the one in Brescia reaching a record 200%. Since the start of 2021, there have been 18 suicides in Italian prisons, in addition to the 62 in 2020 (one for every 10,000 inmates), the highest number in recent years. The data on drug use is also alarming. According to the report, 1 in 4 inmates, on average, are drug addicts. The number of inmates with drug addiction has increased 10% in the last 15 years and the number of people in prison on drug offences is currently 15%. According to Antigone, “the decongestion of prisons must start with the modification of the law on drugs.”