While the government has repeatedly stated that it is considering some sort of drug decriminalisation, what it is not saying is which drugs it intends to address in the legislation it is drafting.

Contacted this week, Minister for Justice Owen Bonnici would not be drawn into the matter of whether the government intends decriminalising drugs across the board or whether it is considering only certain drugs for its decriminalised list.

In fact, all Dr Bonnici had to say on the matter was, “The relative White Paper will be issued in due course.”

 

Drug possession not marijuana possession

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has argued that the law will centre on the decriminalisation of drug possession in certain circumstances. The key words here are drug possession, and not the possession of marijuana, which is considered to be a soft drug in many countries. As such, the Prime Minister implied that people will be able to carry small quantities of several, if not all, drugs.

Moreover, by the time this article went to print, the government had not yet clarified whether the Prime Minister was referring to depenalisation or decriminalisation, as each have different connotations. Depenalisation suggests that first time offences for possessing drugs in small quantities would no longer result in a prison term.  But decriminalisation, the word used by Dr Muscat in his original announcement, refers to the likelihood that drug users would not be taken to court, which would, as such, prevent the possibility of forced rehabilitation.

Caritas Malta is of the opinion that decriminalisation will not work and would rather see the implementation of depenalisation. When asked whether or not they had been contacted by the government in order to have their views on the topic, this newspaper was told that Caritas Director Victor Grech did in fact have an opportunity to express his views to the government.

 

Discretion for judges

Criminal lawyer Giannella de Marco argued that “the presiding judge should be allowed discretion as s/he would have the feel of the case and the circumstances. This is the change that I would like to see in the law.”

Another key question left unanswered regards those already in court on possession charges and those currently serving a prison sentence. Will these people be pardoned should the white paper become law?

This newspaper has submitted several questions to the Office of the Prime Minister which so far have remained unanswered. One of the questions posed regards the possibility of drug classifications, which are currently non-existent in Malta. If only certain drugs are decriminalised, a classification system would need to be introduced.

When contacted, the Police Department declined to give any opinion on the topic.

Earlier this week, an article entitled “Jailing drug users is barbaric” in our sister daily newspaper, people on the ground, including a pro-drug activist, a criminal lawyer and Caritas Malta, shared their thoughts. In this article, the diverse and sometimes surprising opinions of individuals were brought to light. The main gist of the story is that nobody knows what this white paper will contain.

The government has announced a bill which could potentially change the law that permits the jailing of persons for possession, albeit a law which, according to the PN home affairs spokesman Jason Azzopardi, is not always enforced.

Dr Azzopardi argued that the Nationalist Party, when in government, had tabled a bill which would have provided support for first time offenders by recognised organisations, rather than enforcing penalisation. This bill had been scrapped following the forced resignation of then Minister for Justice Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici. Dr Azzopardi confirmed that should the Labour government recognise these principles, the PN would support and welcome this initiative.