It is the very epitome of hypocrisy that a rap superstar brought to Malta for the annual Isle of MTV concert openly brags about smoking marijuana in Malta, an offense under Maltese law, while 11 people were arrested for doing the very same thing at the very same person’s concert.

Not only did Wiz Khalifa, in a now infamous social media post, boast “I smoked a joint in Blue lagoon today” with an accompanying photograph, but he was also blatantly smoking what was unmistakably marijuana in front of the media at a press conference he gave in the lead-up to his show, at which 11 of his fans were arrested…for smoking marijuana.

Furthermore, a photograph being published by this newspaper today shows him rolling a joint from a large bag of marijuana, containing what appeared to be well in excess of the 3.5 grams personal use limit in this country, in his Maltese hotel room – photographs of which were also uploaded to his social media.

But, despite that, the police have incredulously said that the Blue Lagoon social media photograph had been investigated and that there were no resulting criminal charges.  We, and a large amount of people out there, would like to know how, exactly, that investigation was conducted.  Was his hotel room searched, was he brought in for questioning?  We think not.

One wonders what action the police would take if people across Malta were to begin posting photographs of themselves smoking what may or may not be marijuana, captioned “I smoked a joint at…”

The annual Isle of MTV concert is organised jointly by MTV and the Malta Tourism Authority – a government body.  Questioned about the incident, which has caused no small amount of outrage on both sides of the marijuana decriminalisation debate, Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis played the incident down.  He was quoted as saying, “These artists have their own style" while saying everyone had to respect local laws.

What, exactly, is the minister trying to say?  His comments are as much of a double standard as the actions of the police in arresting the concert-goers and not the performer who blatantly boasted about breaking the law of the land.

It is understandable that Khalifa’s persona is centred on the use of marijuana, so much so that he even has his own brand of regulated marijuana in the United States.  That, however, does not make his actions in Malta legal by any stretch of the imagination – as evidenced quite clearly by the fact that the police arrested 11 people for smoking marijuana at his concert.  Perhaps Khalifa himself should speak out about his concert-goers being arrested.

The issue may be something of a storm in a teacup, but it is symptomatic of a wider malaise affecting Maltese society.  It is one that has continually cropped up when it comes to corruption allegations, where the small fry gets the book thrown at them and the big fish are let off the hook. 

And where politicians can set up undeclared bank accounts, trusts and companies in fiscal havens such as Panama and Switzerland and a blind eye is turned to their infractions, while others are imprisoned over VAT violations.

It is perhaps understandable that the authorities were wary of creating an incident by arresting a rap star over marijuana possession, which inevitably would have made media headline the world over, but to apply such a double standard to its own citizens attending the same person’s concert is downright deplorable.

The issue of decriminalising marijuana is not the subject of this discussion – the law is what the law is, and the issue here is that it should be applied to everyone on Maltese territory without fear or favour.

Moreover, this whole incident does very little to foster confidence in the police corps, or for building bridges with the community which it serves.  What it does, instead, is foster the mentality that there are two rules of law – one for the elite and another for the average citizen.