Students propose drug tribunal

A drugs tribunal and harsher sentences for drug trafficking are among 10 proposals a University Students’ Council committee has made.

The proposals, drawn up by the KSU’s social policy commission, are directed at a reformed national drug policy.

The tribunal, the report says, would provide an alternative for non-violent drug offenders and focus on treatment that would allow successful defendants to “avoid prison time and a criminal record”.

Penned by 12 students, the recommendations emphasise the “flexible” and “compassionate” multidisciplinary approach, particularly with young offenders.

The report also encourages halfway houses, where young people, particularly those who come from troubled backgrounds, could live in the community while being given special attention.

Although it does not explicitly recommend decriminalisation of drugs, the report says drug dependents should be treated as patients and not as criminals, particularly in the case of young abusers.

No compassion is shown towards drug trafficking, however, with the report advocating stricter sentences for anyone caught trafficking, cultivating or transporting drugs.

The report quotes a survey carried out among 1,078 Maltese young people aged 18 to 35.

The large majority – 87.9 per cent – of respondents said rehabilitation worked and only 7.4 per cent thought prison was a suitable punishment for drug addicts, with half of the respondents choosing probation or community work as the best option. Conversely, 52.6 per cent of the respondents found prison an appropriate punishment for drug dealing.

Prior to the recommendations, the report explores various issues related to drugs, including the pros and cons of decriminalisation, the legal status of different drugs and drug treatment available on the island.

The proposal of a drug tribunal is not new. In a recent speech, Caritas director Mgr Victor Grech had called for a drug court, saying punishment and prison were not the best measures to improve the behaviour of young people, except in cases where organised crime or drug trafficking were involved.

Former inmate Charles Muscat, known as Il-Pips, who had killed two men in a cocaine-fuelled binge, had claimed it would have been very difficult for him to stay clean from drugs while in prison after having reformed.

Malta’s 2008 drugs policy does in fact include the setting up of a drug court as one of its proposed actions but it is not yet a formal reality.

Most drug-related cases are handled by a particular magistrate.