In the coming weeks, Malta’s first drug policy will be launched for public discussion, Family and Social Solidarity Minister Dolores Cristina said yesterday.
“The drug policy is a result of the close collaboration between all the stakeholders involved and examines legislation, education, treatment and services,” Minister Cristina said. “The policy is just the first step to tackling the drug problem holistically.”
Minister Cristina was speaking during the launch of the annual report for 2005 compiled by the National Focal Point (NFP) on Drugs and Drug Addiction for the ministry and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) in Lisbon.
The report is based on data gathered in 2004 by the NFP through its information network consisting of drug treatment and drug prevention agencies, health departments, law enforcement agencies, correctional facilities and the forensic laboratory.
According to the report, 86 per cent of clients in treatment are heroin users.
The collected data concerned 2004 active clients attending the Substance Abuse Outpatients Unit (Detox) run by sedqa and two outpatient community services (Caritas and Oasi).
“The report offers us the possibility of understanding developments in Malta’s current drug trends as well as providing an understanding of the clients availing themselves of the services offered,” said Mrs Cristina.
In 2004, there was a total of 1,525 people in treatment, resulting in approximately six per 1,000 people aged between 15 and 64 years old.
One possible reason for these relatively high figures is Malta’s centralised methadone dispensing unit which is accessible to all those who want treatment.
In 2004, there were approximately 1,100 known daily heroin users in treatment. It is estimated that the “unknown” daily heroin-using population is around 500-600.
Compared to other European countries, Malta’s six per 1,000 of the population ranks on the high side, indicating that heroin use is still a major problem for Malta.
In 2004, 681 clients were attending substitution treatment, resulting in a total of 44.7 per cent of all clients in treatment. The majority of clients in treatment in 2004 was male with an average age of 28 years.
Malta’s figures on HIV positive cases (one per cent), Hepatitis B (1.4 per cent) are still very low compared to most EU countries.
Hepatitis C is higher at 35 per cent but seem to be stabilising. This may be due to the fact that Malta offers needle and syringe distribution to injecting drug users and for Hepatitis B immunisation.
According to the data, the majority of clients in treatment was primarily composed of residents from the Southern Harbour region (35 per cent) and the Northern Harbour region (32 per cent). At one per cent, Gozo had the lowest percentage of clients in treatment.
Clients seeking help for cannabis or ecstasy-related problems represent the youngest age groups. Cocaine (32.2 per cent), cannabis (31 per cent) and ecstasy (15.3 per cent) were the most common secondary drugs.
The report reveals the need for investigation on recreational drug use in Malta on the abovementioned drugs.
In 2004, there were six acute drug related deaths, resulting in a rate of approximately two deaths per 100,000 of the adult population.
Between 1994 and 2004, there were 67 deaths of Maltese people due to drugs.
The average age of drug-related deaths in the last 10 years was around 34.2 years with most deaths occurring in the 25 to 34 year age groups. Males were more likely to be the victims of fatal overdoes with a male to female ratio of 11:1.
Most non-fatal overdoses are a result of prescribed and non-prescribed medicinals abuse such as antidepressants and tranquillisers.
The number of people arrested by the Malta Drug Squad on drug-related crimes increased sharply between 2003 and 2004 by 40 per cent. Of those arrested, 64 per cent were aged between 19 and 30 years and 89 per cent were males. The majority of the arrests were for possession of cannabis (39 per cent), followed by heroin (32 per cent), ecstasy (19 per cent) and cocaine (nine per cent).
However, the 2003 European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Drugs (ESPAD) reported an increase in cannabis use among 15 and 16 year olds since 1999.
Alcohol is the most commonly used substance among young people and the Maltese percentages are remarkably high when compared to those of other European countries.