493kg of cocaine were seized by local authorities throughout the calendar year of 2023.

Cannabis grass was the second-most seized substance in 2023 with 154kg, followed by 10kg of khat.

During the presentation of the National Drug Report for 2023, Manuel Gellel, who is the Manager of the National Coordinating Unit for Drugs and Alcohol, shared statistics on the drug situation and responses across the Maltese islands.

This report was published on Wednesday afternoon featuring the data for 2023. This data was extracted and compiled with the assistance from the organisations Caritas, Aġenzija Sedqa, and OASI.

Over three times as much cocaine was seized by local authorities in 2023 than any other drug. Gellel said that this statistic includes substances seized from domestic use as well as those which were in transit destined for other countries.

Cocaine also recorded the highest mean purity/potency level amongst all seized drugs at 57%.

Throughout 2023, there were 18 drug-related deaths: five were caused due to the consumption of heroin and 13 were the result of cocaine use, they said. Eight additional death certificates from 2023 are still pending toxicology results.

Additionally, the number of drug-related admissions into hospital emergency departments rose from the year 2022. 2022 was marked as a year that featured more than double the number of emergency admissions as the year prior, 2021, shooting up from 568 emergency admissions to 1135. 2023 recorded 1,266 emergency admissions related to drug use.

The majority were due to complications related to the substances they had taken.

According to the report's finding, amongst all individuals receiving treatment for substance abuse, there are 1,019 individuals who primarily used heroin, from whom 4% are new entrants into treatment programmes, 938 individuals who primarily took cocaine (32% were new treatment programme entrants) and 314 persons who primarily used cannabis (24% were new treatment programme entrants).

There were 2,311 persons receiving drug-related treatment overall in 2023, up from 1,927 in 2022. Amongst these individuals, 45% were in employment, 64% had a secondary level education, and 13% held a higher education level. Around four out of every five of these were male.

Out of 516 individuals registered under probation and parole, just over half of all cases (216) were for cocaine use. Furthermore, 163 persons were registered as having problematic drug use with cannabis, 82 persons with heroin, and the remaining ten people with synthetics.

There were 80 total arraignments on drug law offences in 2023, continuing a downward trend over recent years. In 2022, there were 140 total arraignments in this regard, in 2021 there were 256 arraignments, and 262 the year prior. The downward trend in the number of arraignments on drug law offences per year was attributed to a drug reform introduced by the government in 2015; the reform aimed to increase focus on rehabilitating drug users, as opposed to incriminating them.

Most of these arraignments stemmed from the trafficking of cocaine (32 cases) and cannabis (22 cases). The trafficking of heroin accounted for five cases, and another three arraignments were for trafficking other illicit substances.

Cases of drug possession amounted to 18 of these 80 arraignments; half of them were for the possession of cannabis, six for cocaine, two for heroin, and one for another drug which was left unmentioned.

In total, there were 88 total tribunal cases for drug law offences in 2023. 31 of these cases resulted in the payment of a fine, 47 cases have pending payments, three cases were given a not guilty verdict, and seven are still pending judgement.

Minister Falzon said that all drugs are harmful and that no matter what a person is going through, he hopes they recognise that "drugs are not the solution, they are always the problem. Don't try to find any justification for them."

He said that as a government, policies tackling substance abuse help people get back on their feet and give them another chance at life, irrespective of how many chances they were given in the past.

"God forbid we take an attitude to judge people dependent on drug use. The easiest thing to do is judge and the worst policies we can undertake are the ones that sweep this issue under the rug," Minister Falzon said.

He added that the government is focusing on prevention and education to tackle this issue.

Falzon concluded that through these figures, the government will work to interpret the results and that it should analyse the profound reasons behind why drug users seek refuge in these substances to begin with in order to better tackle the root causes.