Drug traffickers are the agents of death, Speaker of the House Anglu Farrugia has said.

He was addressing a national conference on drug abuse held on Parliament this morning.

He said, while highlighting that drugs do not only have negative effects on the abuser but on society on general. The Speaker mentioned how some children born to mothers who abuse drugs have issues when born.

“We must protect our children from anything that can lead them to drug use".

Speaker of the House Anglu Farrugia said that there are 2,000 people in Malta who regularly make use of drug care centres locally. He said that the highest rate of deaths due to drugs in Europe is in Malta.

We cannot be content with the current reality he said.

He highlighted the need to help all those addicted to drugs free themselves from the shackles, but also emphasised the need to fight against drug traffickers.

Drugs are not the solution but are the problem, Social Solidarity Minister Michael Falzon said durring his intervention.

The minister stressed the need to combat drug trafficking and to help those who fell victim to the use of drugs, with all entities who work within the sector working as one team

He said that society can rise to the occasion, and spoke of new drug phenomenon. He highlighted that there are minors with drug problems and spoke of the need to educate the educators to tackle this issue. “We need to send a message, that drugs are not trendy, that they do not make you macho, but rather that they turn you into a victim.”

Leonid Mackay, from Caritas, said that despite the smallness of the Maltese Islands, we can boast of having a wide array of institutions that deal with the drug problem.

Mackay said that Caritas was satisfied that, in the debate in Parliament on medical marijuana, a distinction had been made between medical marijuana and recreational marijuana. 

In a brief presentation made via video, Sedqa spoke about the work that it does in relation to drug addiction, saying that it receives approximately 2,800 to 3,000 clients per year, and that it administers on average 700 doses of methadone per day as part of their detox programmes. 

The organisation also committed to working with both Caritas and OASI to continue providing support to drug users.

Clifford Galea, who contested the 2013 General Elections and is also a councillor for Naxxar, then rose to speak about his personal experiences involving drug use.

He emphasised that anybody, whatever type of person they are, whatever educational and family background they come from and whatever position they hold, can fall victim to drug addiction. 

The factors that could lead to drug addiction are various, Galea said.  Elements such as how easy it is to obtain drugs, and especially pressure through social media and films all play a role in the development of this addiction. 

Speaking about the latter, Galea said that the way in which drugs are portrayed on television and in films is automatically making children think that to be succesful they must do drugs.

Galea also spoke about how the authorities concerned must show addicts that they are ready to provide them with support.  Court sentences, he said, should be given in such a manner that they provide a lesson to the offender, rather than simply a punishment.

He closed off by calling for a system of support for those who are facing the crippling debt that drug addiction causes, with this system giving attention and raising awareness on this facet of drug addiction.