One of the things which vividly struck me during 2021 was an episode which happened on Valentine’s Day.

A young couple had decided to rent a hotel room for the occasion and decided to smoke a joint.  They ended up being arrested by the Police, after a report was filed.

The Police had even issued a statement and an accompanying picture showing a negligible amount of cannabis, a joint and grinder.

When I read that story, I felt that the law which I had piloted in 2015 for the depenalisation of simple possession of all drugs in favour of treatment – while being a very important and positive development on the whole - had not sufficiently addressed the reality of cannabis users.

In other words I felt that the reform which I had undertaken, though positive and much needed after years of war against genuine victims of drug abuse, penalization and draconism, needed a further upheaval in so far as simple possession of cannabis is concerned.

And what MEP Roberta Metsola said on this case really struck me.  She said two things essentially: firstly she said that it does not make sense to charge teenagers for smoking a joint in a hotel room.  Secondly she said that the lengthy court procedures will hang over them for the best part of their formative years.

She then ended her statement with a very sharp and straight comment: it is time to fix the system.

When my colleague Rosianne Cutajar issued a white paper on the responsible use of cannabis last March I felt that it was an opportunity to bring about change.  I gave my full support at Parliamentary Group level and made a couple of suggestions in the ensuing discussion.

Fast forward four months, and the reform portfolio was transferred to my ministry. From the word go I gave the new cannabis legislation my fullest priority.  I publicly gave self-imposed deadlines straightaway: that the law would be published during the very first week after the Summer recess.  And that is what exactly happened, after obtaining Cabinet approval following fruitful and constructive discussions.

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The easiest route for the Government would have been to decriminalize possession up cannabis to 7 grams, depenalise up to 28 grams (1 ounce) and allow for the cultivation of 4 plants.  However that route, though easier and perhaps more straightforward to explain to the public, would have left a vacuum as regards to the source of obtainment of cannabis.  Growing plants at home, contrary to what one might believe, is a very prohibitive enterprise in that it is time-consuming, difficult and costly, not to mention that it can be very challenging to those who live in small places.

Had we left that vacuum, the ultimate profiteer would have been the illegal trafficker.  This effectively meant that the realistic options were that of either doing nothing or making a wholesome reform.  We are a reformist Government, and doing nothing is something that we could never accept.

We went ahead to fix the system.

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People who make responsible use of cannabis are a minority in our country.  Research shows that 12% of the population have smoked cannabis at some point in their life, with cannabis being more than three times as popular with men than women.  We will keep urging people to make healthier choices for the lives and, if anything, we want adults to engage in activities such as sport, culture and the voluntary sector to obtain “highs” rather than engage in the use of substances.

Also, it is a fact that practically the great and absolute majority of the population has never met anyone who smokes cannabis and for a lot of people, users of cannabis, are “invisible.”

The fact that cannabis users are a minority in our country and most people do not know anyone making use of cannabis does not mean that cannabis users should not be treated with dignity.  Rather, the criminalization of cannabis users has to stop and this is what we will be doing.

I strongly believe that the use of cannabis should be regulated by law in Malta so that it can only be sold in specific places regulated by the country's authorities, thereby reducing abuse, tampering and drug trafficking. In such a way, authorities will have stronger means to fight against traffickers of cannabis.

This is the harm reduction approach we so strongly believe in.

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Internationally the reform which we pushed forward attracted a lot of attention.  The reason is twofold: firstly because Malta will be the first EU country to legislate in such a comprehensive manner on personal use of cannabis.  Secondly because it is being presumed that other countries, such as Germany and Luxembourg, will soon be following suit.

It is a shame that we find conservative exponents such as Lawrence Gonzi, who led a terrible and disastrous stint as Prime Minister of this country, coming out of retirement to urge the Nationalist Party to commit to repealing the law if they are elected to power.  For the benefit of the youths who were still very young in 2012, this is the same guy who campaigned as hard as he could against the introduction of divorce in Malta.

I believe it is our duty to keep explaining what we are doing.  The opponents of change in our country always use the same method: that of painting a picture of gloom and doom.  Again, we are on the right side of history.  Again, we are fixing the system.