With reference to the Talking Point article Should Drugs Be Legalised, by Mario Saliba (December 22), I would like to make some clarifications.

As opposed to what is said in this article, according to the report in The Times called Sedqa Doctor Asks: Should Drug Use Remain A Crime? (December 11), I had proposed that “a discussion on the decriminalisation of drug use is urgent” and that I “was not calling for the legalisation of drugs”.

Moreover, I would like to clarify the difference between decriminalisation and legalisation of drug use, which are two completely different concepts.

Legalisation of drug use involves making such substances legally available to the public, albeit with some degree of control (e.g. minimum age of consumption, etc.).

Decriminilisation of drugs involves a system where persons caught in possession of drugs are referred for the necessary support to overcome their substance abuse problem but will not face criminal procedures.

This should only be applied to drug use and not drug trafficking.

As I had already suggested, the first step would be to classify different drugs rather than treat all substances on the same level, as is currently the case in Malta. This would involve dividing drugs into different classes, depending on the degree of harm each drug causes.

My suggestion was to have a more open discussion on the idea of implementing the decriminilisation of drugs in Malta, as a next step to deal with the drug abuse problem.

The legalisation of drugs was never on my agenda.