Police question 29 on drugs

What is creating the problem is not cannabis per se but the fact that it has been criminalized and people have no alternative but to turn to organised criminals to use it.

The obvious answer is to legalise cannabis and let everyone who wants to use it, as long as they do not bother anyone. After all, alcohol and cigarettes are in abundance and these too are drugs, and very dangerous ones both to the individual and to society.

Why government not legalize at least marijuana ? first we have to catergorize what is a drug or not? If your diabetic and eating bunch of chocolate a day is it that drug? anything can be a drug if you let it be a drug, than heroin and cocaine etc , i can understand that are hard drugs and can make psychological problems and pain without controlling yourself if your in addiction on that type of drug.

We are inhaling air pollution every single moment from the atmosphere without controlling couse that s the air i m breathing. so do i have the right so say no , i cannot 'cause it s like this and we are investing in another power station instead of alternative energy.
so who can tell me what i want to inhale , the government?
we are taking pollution every single moment and are worst than eating a herb or smoking a joint . no one should be arrested for smoking marijuana at least. or we should arrest
those who don t follow the standards required to exhoust to.

and welcome to thousands of tourists to Malta . good for the economy aswell.

I am not and have never tasted cannabis - so I cannot argue what it does or how to control it. But I wonder if a user could really control his/her self in limiting the dose. In a career of 45 years in manufacturing - I have met quite a few employees that somehow were addicted to either heavy drugs, cannabis and heavy alcohol - smoking and of course winos. Their performance on the job was weak in quality, intelligence, speed, speech, learning abilities and socialising, under normal conditions.

Doesn't that mean that ALL the above vices are bad for your health? ... And would these give a happier life when one uses them ... is it to get away from reality?

I truly do not understand why would one need to use them.

@ Stephen I never mentioned Amsterdam but I'm going mention some EU neighbours Spain up to 3 grams of weed, Portugal 2 grams of weed or pollen, Czechoslovakia you can grow 2 plants in your household, Serbia just coming out of a war you can grow 1 plant similar is Macedonia which is like Malta in the 70's. I'm not by any means saying legalise Cocaine,Heroin or ecstasy those should be banned and higher penalties on them. Just legalise weed or cannabis.

@Stephen Farrugia
I think you do not know that you live in Europe of 2009. To put things right Amsterdam is the capital of the country Netherlands. And if there is an organized country in Europe it is 'Holland', they managed to make their own land, because 20% of it was under sea level, and to survive they had to work against all odds. They are one of the best economies in Europe, being a small country. And they are business minded, they have the biggest port in the world, Rotterdam, they are very tollerant, but they manage to reach a balance in their multicultural society. Also big firms that come out of Holland are C&A, Heineken, Royal Dutch Shell, Phillips and others. Well I can assure you they are hard workers.

The gateway drug theory works only on, with all due respect to everyone who believes it, stupid people who are not willing to think one step further.

If this theory is true, then just as anyone on heroin has at a point smoked a joint, everyone that has smoked a joint has also at some point drank a beer. Then why is alcohol legal if this theory is true?

We can also take this further by saying that all people on hard drugs have at a point eating pizza, so shall we criminilize pizza?

This gateway theory is fundamentally flawed and marijuana is illegal due to laws that are not being updated to correctly reflect today's world. Marijuana was made illegal due to political reasons and since then has unjsutly remained illegal, even now that it is quite obvious that marijuana is a medical asset.

I sincerely hope that our country can move forward and at least DECRIMINILIZE (if not legalize) marijuana. A person is not a criminal because he/she smokes (there are healthier ways of administrating it, look up vaporizers for those interested) marijuana.

@ Guze Xerri

I am not an expert on the gateway to drug use or dependence. Indeed I know very little about the subject having (fortunately) never tried it, had access to it nor found I needed it. There is however a fair link I believe between drug addiction and crime to support drug use.

I did try alcohol when I was young but actually found that being dizzy, acting stupid, being sick and having a headache the next day did not do a lot for me and even less for my job prospects. (It is difficult enough not to appear and act stupid when I am sober so I certainly do not need any stimulants to aid me there LOL).

Again, each to his own. I have no objection to anyone doing anything as long as it is not harmful to anyone else.

@ Paul Barrett,

As a cannabis user for medical reason I can assure you that the gateway drug theory is a pathetic hoax.

We should ban milk then so alcoholics do not occur because they started on milk then moved to fruit juice and soda pop then beer, to top it off with whisky.

Cannabis is not physically addictive like alcohol, tobacco or heroin and it can be grown anywhere for the cost of a few euros if people were not being threatened with prison sentences.
The real reason cannabis is outlawed is because it can compete with the alcohol industry and the pharmaceutical monopolies.

Cannabis has been used safely by mankind for 5000 years and has never been known to kill anyone.

@ Tony Bonello.
You have a valid argument - presuming you are an adult, it is your life and you were not harming anyone else.
Unfortunately, although you may be able to control yourself and your habit, many more can not do this and move on to "more relaxing" (and powerful) substances, get deeply hooked where obtaining a greater high becomes all consuming. This then becomes out of hand, more and more money is required and to get that extra "high", everything goes out of the window just to survive.
Constant reports of drug related crime mitigates against any move to legalise mild drug use and I very much doubt it will ever be done.

@ Stephen Farrugia,

" ... its a Lazy country. "

Holland is at number 16 from the top as far as its GNP is, compared to 127th from the top for Malta.
Holland is hardly a country with lazy citizens, it is a progressive modern nation not a semi theocracy that caters to the alcohol industry and big pharma under the guise of law.

Mr Bonnello should be able to consume cannabis as a thinking adult with free choice and not to be harassed by the police. He is not harming anyone with a substance that is less destructive than a few beers and a cigarette.

@stephen Farrugia before you say that amsterdam is a country maybe you should have brushed up your geographical skills as amsterdam is the capital city of the Netherlands.and the Netherlands is not a lazy country neither is any city or town in the country included amsterdam

Tony bonello ; Laws are there to be protected and enforced. If it's your religion, go live in Amsterdam. Not that I disagree, but there's a reason its illegal. If you see people in amsterdam... its a Lazy country.

I was one of those caught at Moby concert . I was caught just smoking a joint, here I'm saying that the police did wrong they did their job nothing else, I want to complain when are our laws going to change. That's my concern for me I did nothing wrong. Smoking weed is my religion. Legalise it only.