A total of 31 people were penalised for using cannabis in public spaces since the beginning of 2022, predominantly in the localities of St Julian's, Paceville, Sliema, Gzira and Valletta.

Answering a parliamentary question posed by PN MP Albert Buttigieg, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri published the aforementioned total number of persons who were penalised after being caught making use of cannabis in public spaces, during the year of 2022 up until April 2023.

Camilleri was also asked how many people were penalised by the police, during this same period, for driving under the influence of cannabis. He said that there were no persons who were penalised for driving under the influence of the substance.

Buttigieg also asked for information about the numbers caught in specific localities which he mentioned, as well as their ages and nationalities, to which Camilleri said that there were 19 of the cases found in Paceville, Sliema, Marsalforn, Valletta and Marsascala. The nationalities of the 19 were Somalian, Gambian, Malian, Nigerian, English, German, and several Maltese. The youngest of these was 16, with three other teenagers in four separate cases being penalised in Valletta.

Details of the rest of the 31 were not published or asked for.