Speaking in an interview to Rome's Il Messaggero newspaper, he said the proposal has the backing of the government and Justice Minister, Carlo Nordio.
It echoes Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's stated aim "to achieve not only certainty of punishment but also greater guarantees for citizens," Delmastro said, adding that existing communities run by third-sector organisations would be involved.
The Italian prison population currently stands at 56,319 against an official capacity of 51,285, and 30 per cent of prisoners have a drug addiction, Delmastro told Il Messaggero.
The Radical Party welcomed the "common sense" proposal, saying it had had been pushing for similar measures for more than a decade.
"There is no doubt that drug addicts should not be in prison, just as psychiatric patients should not be in prison," party secretary and treasurer Maurizio Turco and Irene Testa, said.
"Moving drug-addicted inmates from a prison to a closed community may alleviate prison overcrowding, but it is above all a measure of justice to them," Luana Zanella, Lower House Greens and Left Alliance whip, said,
She also called for "a thorough review of the drug law and its repressive approach, which over the years has proven to be completely ineffective".
Osvaldo Napoli, of the centrist Azione party led by Carlo Calenda, hailed the proposal for "recognising that the binomial drug addict prison is outdated".
"The drug addict is no longer a person to be arrested but a person to be treated. And that is no small thing," he concluded.
ANSA
