Substance abuse agency discussing decriminalisation of certain drugs

The organisation responsible for dealing with substance abuse is debating the option of decriminalising certain drugs – not all – as it is “not comfortable” with the results obtained so far.

The CEO of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services, Sina Bugeja said the matter was still being discussed before a national direction on the topic could be drawn up.

The foundation, responsible for the substance abuse agency Sedqa, was not satisfied with the way addicts were being dealt with, she said, adding treating drug users as criminals was not conducive to the desired results.

Sedqa’s clinical director George Grima said last year a discussion on drug decriminalisation had to start urgently, adding prison was not giving the desired results to treat drug abusers.

The medical doctor had specified he was not speaking about drug traffickers – “who are another kettle of fish” – and was not calling for the legalisation of drugs.

Decriminalisation, as opposed to legalisation, according to Dr Grech, would still enable the government to treat abusers but would not automatically translate into a prison sentence.

The government had shot down the proposal, saying it was not on the table and that it would consider other options.

Ms Bugeja rekindled the debate when fielding questions following the launch of reports by Appoġġ, Sapport and Sedqa.

One of Sedqa’s achievements between 2007 and 2009 was its role in raising the minimum legal drinking age to 17.

More can be done on this front, according to Sedqa’s operations director, Jesmond Schembri, because while anti-smoking laws were being suitably enforced, the same could not be said of alcohol, where enforcement “left a lot to be desired”.

The next step for the agency was to introduce a national policy on alcohol, Mr Schembri said. He reported that while heroin remained the most widespread drug among Sedqa users, cocaine usage was up as the drug became cheaper due to new importation routes.

Sapport chief operations officer Marcel Pisani said the agency’s services had led to such an increase in demand it was struggling with its financial and human resources. The agency has nine centres across Malta, serving more than 400 clients, some of who had very “intensive” needs.

Yvonne Mallia, Appoġġ operations director, said the agency handled 8,000 different cases a year.

Foundation president Lawrence Zammit stressed the importance of strengthening the family unit to address problems at their roots. He said it was also time for another step in the way disadvantaged people were treated. The country should move from a welfare state to a caring state, where people with certain problems would be given a chance to integrate in society.