As the country heads towards a debate on whether recreational marijuana should be legalized, a recently published report has raised new concerns on the use and availability of drugs in Malta.

The report, by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), reveals that drugs in Malta are among the cheapest and least pure in the European Union.

At face value this means that drugs are more affordable and the harm they can do, through added compounds and chemicals that reduce their purity, could be higher than normal.

The report, which gives data from 2015 and is, probably, already outdated, also reveals that the number of drug-induced deaths of people aged between 15 and 64 in Malta is slightly higher than the most recent European average. The mortality rate amongst people aged between 15 and 64, termed by the report as ‘adults’, was 28 deaths per million deaths in 2015. The European average is 20 deaths per million.

Drug-induced deaths refer to those deaths which are directly attributed to the use of illicit drugs, specifically poisonings and overdoses.

The data shows that 88% of the victims of drug-induced deaths were male and 12% were female. The average age was 36 years.

Another worrying aspect is the fact that less than a fifth of clients in drug rehab are women. It is unclear whether this is because the number of male users if far higher than females, or whether this is a sign that women with drug dependency problems are less likely to seek help. This is a question that needs to be answered and acted upon.

Some weeks before the election, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the country should start a debate on legalizing recreational marijuana. His first tenure saw the county relax its cannabis laws. While being caught smoking a joint today can still get you arrested (for investigation purposes) the act is only punished with a fine, on the first offence. But the country seems intent on taking things a step further, and the Opposition agrees.

Muscat has been quoted as saying that, although he was concerned about the notion of his children experimenting with drugs, he understood that maintaining the illegal status of cannabis favoured traffickers.

This is one of the arguments that are often made by those in favour of legalizing marijuana, who claim that this would free up police time and resources, which could be used to deal with more serious issues. It would also cut off a revenue stream for organised crime. Another pro is that there would be more control over the product on the market, reducing the more damaging substances found in lower quality product.

On the other hand the anti-drug lobby argues that marijuana smoking can lead to addiction and could also serve as a gateway to other, harder drugs. It is also argued that, apart from causing harm to the body, smoking cannabis can also lead to an increase in traffic accidents, not to mention the issue of second-hand smoke. 

At the end of the day politicians are usually not experts on such subjects and would do well to heed the advice of those who are. The courts, for example, deal with numerous drug cases every day and our judges and magistrates see firsthand the effects that drugs have on people and society in general.

Earlier this week a magistrate who was presiding over a drugs case insisted that no form of drug taking should be legalized. “Drugs are harmful and things that can harm us should not be allowed,” he said.

Pointing out how the impressive spread of drug abuse, the magistrate said the problem would not go away and the harm would not be reduced if one was to allow users to use psychotic drugs.

There are many other voices that need to be heard, such as the voice of social workers who work closely with drug dependent persons and can literally touch the problem with their own hands.

So one would hope that when the debate on legalization starts, both sides of the coin are heard, contemplated and studied and a careful decision, rather than a populist one, is made at the end of that process.