Cleared of drug possession due to legal definition

A Sliema man was yesterday cleared of drug possession charges after a magistrate ruled the substance found in his possession did not fall under the category of drugs he was charged with possessing.

Mario Chircop, 25, was cleared of the illegal possession of specified or psychotropic drugs in circumstances denoting they were not for his personal use on and before July 17, 1999.

Magistrate Noel Cuschieri heard how while police were patrolling the area in the vicinity of the detox centre they saw Chircop behave suspiciously. They searched him and found 37 ecstasy pills in a packet of cigarettes.

The court noted that for the purposes of the law ecstasy did not fall under the drugs labelled as "specified or psychotropic" but belonged to a more dangerous category known as "restricted drugs".

For this reason, the magistrate ruled, the charges pressed against Chircop had not been proven as required by the law.

Police Inspector Neville Aquilina prosecuted.

Dr José Herrera appeared for Chircop.