One of the greatest tragedies afflicting our people is that there are so many law-abiding citizens that float through life without knowing the extent of the illegalities we are surrounded with.
For if you lead a law-abiding sort of life you think everybody is like you. And if you happen to think about it at all you think that crime is only those few cases that the media reports from the law courts.
It is only when you or someone dear to you unfortunately becomes a victim that you begin to understand that crime is more pervasive than you thought and that many times there are no adequate remedies or real protection, whatever is officially said.
This is not the case of Malta only - many countries are likewise afflicted. You should listen to what people at ground level have to say, rather than believe the saccharine soothing declarations of officialdom.
The situation then gets more like an uphill climb if and when public policy, aka politics, gets involved.
It's not that there could be a political party that promotes law-breaking but rather that what it proposes is inadequate to the task.
In theory the workings of a democracy should ensure that the fight against law breaking gets the support of the State and of the majority of the population. But it doesn't always work like that.
See what's happening in the UK, see what's happening in Italy, for instance where law and order repeatedly break down. For all the institutions like Scotland Yard and the institutions that fight the Mafia, many times the State loses the battle.
We in Malta have our own specific problems in this regard but I do feel I can express what many from all shades of opinion tell you quite openly and spontaneously: Malta has always been but is increasingly more so becoming cocaine island at a level many law-abiding citizens are unaware of.
Drug-taking used to be related to other drugs, those that today are mostly permitted, like cannabis, but drug-taking has now moved on to cocaine.
It used to be the favourite drug of the elite: it is now mainstream.
Italian author Roberto Saviano, at a huge risk to his life, has studied the intricate network of drug production and distribution all over the world.
We are in this world. Even we have been persuaded to become more and more liberal.
Many of our families are suffering from the impact of drug-taking on the family finances, the reason of so much violence behind closed doors, and the break-up of families with the creation of new poor.
The victims and their families feel all alone and that there are no real support systems.
They live in terror that the slightest action by them may open the way to violence and devastation.
We must row back or else we will be allowing our country to continue to slide down the slippery slope.
Many propose harsher measures but that will only make us resemble North Korea and not be effective at all. My reply is there is a lot that can be done with more love and acceptance of those who become addicts.
Unfortunately I get the impression that our two main parties are more interested to become mirror images of each other than to lead the country back to sanity.
I get the impression that there will be no realistic commitment in their electoral platform to address the spread of drugs in our society. We lose the battle even before beginning it.
And don't forget: the Royal Opera House must be rebuilt exactly as it was.
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