Proposals for relaxed drug laws welcomed
Government proposals to relax drug possession laws for first-time offenders have been received with cautious optimism by drug rehabilitation experts and lawyers.
If the amendments are approved by Parliament, first-time offenders caught with any drug for their personal use will be formally warned rather than face court proceedings. A drugs court, on the cards for several years, will also be established.
National Commission for Drugs, Alcohol and other Dependencies chairman Marilyn Clark welcomed the government proposal, saying it was very similar to one the commission had been working on.
The commission’s proposals shed some light onto how the amended possession laws could operate.
A cohort of Arrest Referral Officers, adequately trained in youth, justice and delinquency issues, would liaise between offenders and an extra-judicial body.
The body will comprise three members, all qualified in dealing with drug-related issues, and will be able to refer offenders to counselling or rehabilitation courses, assign them community service or require regular drug tests.
“Our proposals are currently being reviewed by the police,” Dr Clark said.
Psychotherapist Mariella Dimech was also positive. The proposals appeared to indicate “a more positive attitude”, moving away from perceiving drug addiction as a criminal act, she said.
Caritas director Mgr Victor Grech was also pleased with the proposals, saying he had been calling for a specialised drug court for years.
“We need to speed up the existing system. There are people who are arrested, undergo rehabilitation, go on to graduate, and are still waiting for their case to be heard.”
There were positive noises from the legal sphere, with Chamber of Advocates president Reuben Balzan calling the proposals “an interesting development” which could signal a shift in Malta’s approach to drug-related offences.
Legislators were “sometimes using a sledgehammer” for drug offences, Dr Balzan said.
“Putting first-time users through the court system is probably not the best solution, even for the accused themselves.”
According to criminal lawyer Joe Giglio, the proposed amendments make sense in the Maltese context.
“Changes in our conduct certificates ordinance meant that first-time offenders were ending up with a criminal record. This amendment will prevent that from happening.”
The issue is especially relevant to young people, with more than four out of every five arrests for drug possession concerning 15 to 34-year-olds.
“Cases of simple possession often take three or four years to reach court,” Dr Giglio said. “By the time a case is heard, the offender has often turned their life around.”
Under the proposals, individuals given a formal warning could be compelled to attend rehabilitation courses or counselling sessions. But Mgr Grech is sceptical how effective forced rehabilitation would be.
“One of rehabilitation’s key tenets is the victim’s desire to be rehabilitated. You can’t force someone to overcome their addiction unless they want to,” he said.
Not so, argued Ms Dimech. “Contrary to popular perception, international research has shown that drug rehabilitation is just as effective when users are coerced into doing it. Ultimately, coercion can work.”
She said that much resistance to rehabilitation lay in misguided perceptions of what it entailed.
“Most rehabilitation is not residential. People can live at home, keep working and still be enrolled in a rehabilitation course. It’s not necessarily the radical change people assume it is.”
That didn’t mean the proposals would be an automatic success. Lumping all first-time offenders into one basket could be dangerous.
“A youth caught smoking cannabis recreationally is one thing; a couple of youths found shooting heroin is something different altogether. Although the law may classify both as first-time offenders, any eventual drug court would have to be sensitive to such distinctions.”
Ms Dimech insisted that a drug court would not work unless it adopted a multidisciplinary approach. Magistrates already consult social workers and psychological experts when dealing with drug cases, but these consultative structures need to be institutionally entrenched into any eventual drug court.
Lawyer Ramona Frendo voiced similar concerns. She fears that any specialist rehabilitation committee would end up being underqualified and understaffed.
“Unfortunately, government agencies are very often understaffed and the pay is very low, so people tend to move on very quickly,” Dr Frendo said.
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Robert Callus
Dec 4th 2011, 16:04
Those studies that come to the conclusion that cannabis leads to hard drugs have a serious limitation - serious enough to make them irrelevant
http://robertcallus.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/is-it-a-gateway-drug/
Robert Callus
Dec 4th 2011, 15:38
@Lawrence Calleja
"Drug possession should continue to be a crime and punsihable with imprisonment. It is those who abuse with drugs that commit theft, bulglaries, hold-ups and other crimes."
A ridiculous argument. These are some of the reasons why:
1) You are assuming. People commit these crimes for various purposes, only one of which is drug addiction.
2) Yes, drug addiction leads to such crimes. So does peer pressure, but no one in his right mind considers making friends a crime
3) Alcohol is the main culprit in violent crime and rape. Should it be a crime to drink a beer?
4) Cannabis and some other soft drugs do not lead people to commit these crimes. Do you agree they should be legalized?
5) Drug addiction is a disease. While that doesn't entitle a person to steal someone because he's sick, to punish him for hurting himself is obnoxious.
and, most important
6) We've already got the harshest laws on drugs in Europe. Yet, burglaries and hold-ups are seriously on the increase. Don't you think following this path means we have failed somewhere?
7) Prison does not rehabilitate anyone. If you imprison people with the possession of drugs - some of whom are not yet drug addicts - you're just ensuring they will become addicts more quickly and surely. As for prison rehabilitating drug addicts - dream on.
Charles Cremona
Dec 4th 2011, 14:35
This is the slippery slope, where do you draw the line, by relaxing the rules on drugs it sends the wrong message to young people. People on hard drugs like Heroin started on cannabis and progressed to hard drugs which are impossible to get off. The only way is to educate youngsters about the evils of drugs and impose harsh sentences on drug barons and dealers. At present the sentences imposed on these parasites are not harsh enough to deter them, a life sentence should be the norm for dealing in hard drugs and above all life should mean life.
Mr twanny borg
Dec 4th 2011, 14:20
il-bniedem ghandu jkun liberu. hafna ligijiet maghmula minn nies antikwati. sess taht 18-il sena illegali, droga ghall-uzu personali ghall-qorti b'aktar problemi u hlas ta' avukati, disco ghat-tfal ipprojbiti, wardens kullimkien jistahba, ta' xbiex u postijiet ohra ma tistax tipparkja ghax iktar parkings riservati ghar-residenti u miljun haga ohra sirna aghar mit-talibani.
Peter Agius
Dec 4th 2011, 13:44
Theoritically the relaxation of drug laws is a short term solution to the court's load of cases. Actually it has a long time impact on more serious crimes that the courts have to deal with in the future. But I am no expert. We have to wait and see.
Jimmy Magro
Dec 4th 2011, 13:44
Let us assume that there are no drug users in Malta. This means that there are no drug trafficers. Since demand is zero, the supply is zero.
Let us assume that all Maltese use cannabis and drugs for personal use. The demand for drugs goes up and the market is created that brings in drug trafficers. Hence the drug immoral industry is created. But the suppliers are criminals and the users are not.
I want to know the logic behind these arguments. Because a young offerder takes hum four years to be brought to justice, you do not fix the legal system but you make drug for personal use legal.
These are solutions that are thought at our long-standing university !!
The matters should not be commented by lawyers as the issue is not how the legal system works (this goes for the journalist who drawn up this report). Issues related to drugs should be commented upon by drug experts and not legal experts.
The lawyers are there to defend criminals and not to say what kind of drugs should be criminalised or decriminalised.
Once the State is allowing the use of drugs for personal use, it has become a partner with the drug criminals. Read one comment below where the "expert" says it is good to allow the use of cannabis as the US Government is raising money out of it. What a piece of crap.
Those drugs that the medical profession declare as unfit should be declared unlawful and a criminal offence whatever the case maybe. The matter is for the drug experts (and not lawyers) to say which are harmful drugs or not.
This culture that the legal profession know it all must change if we want to see and build a humane society.
Robert Callus
Dec 4th 2011, 17:32
You would have had a point, only if you first assumption was true - that there are no drug users in Malta. Unfortunately it isn't the case.
While there is nearly a consensus on whether drug trafficking is immoral and should be illegal, you are shifting the blame on drug users/addicts.
You are also assuming - wrongly - that what deters young people from using drugs is the law.
In reality, 2 things deter people from taking drugs:
1) Education - knowing what you are risking if you start using drugs
2) Self esteem - so that you don't need them in the first place.
Joseph Camilleri
Dec 4th 2011, 19:19
What's the problem with members of the legal profession giving their views? Surely their experience is important since at the end of the day they are living the problems in Court on a daily basis. Are you suggesting that people whose knowledge is based on reading news reports have more to contribute than legal practitioners?
Jimmy Magro
Dec 4th 2011, 19:49
@Robert Callus
My two assumtions are used to explain that when drugs are used for personal use, someone, somewhere, there are the drug trafficers. Hence drugs should always be illegal as the State cannot diferentiate trafficers and users. There will not be trafficers if there are no users. Both are making use of illegal substances in different ways but both should be made to pay equally under the law. This is what I believe although I understand that not everybody agrees with me. I am tollerant to other people's opinions.
Education is failing as the education system is teaching too much theory but very little how to live in this corruptable world. The students study about all forms of verbs, for example, when what actually a student needs is how to write correctly and not all that details about verbs etc. The same goes to every other subject.
When statistics indicate a heavy intake of drugs by teens, the education system should be dynamic enough to change its focus to attack this issue. But everybody is happy when we know the ship is sinking.
The entertainment industry is also the culprit of this corruotable society but it is defended by the State as those leading this industry are all close to politicians and the police. In Malta everyone knows each other and there needs to be no indepth study to know what goes on through the various social networks between business, politicians, police, lawyers and the judiciary.
I appeal to all youth and grown uos to discard ideas that cannabis is healthy or should be accepted; this is being said by those that have interest to make more money from your pocket. If you want to enjoy life, take a break in one of the beautifuk cities in Europe, go to a museum, musical or ballet and you see how you come back more happy than ever. There are many alternatives - no one needs to burn his/her life by going into drugs irrespective of the level of drugs that the State is contemplating of making it legal.
We the Maltese need to learn from the mistakes of other countries and should never continue to be the Bendu sheep and follow the mistakes of others.
Mario Busuttil
Dec 4th 2011, 13:11
Bhala ligi hija tajba hafna ghal min ikun l-ewwel darba li jinqabad bl' LIGHT' drug ,bhal ma hija il cannabis ,imma il principju huwa dwar il process tal kriminalita fejn jista jwasslek ,bhal per ezempju meta tkun imwissi biss u ma jkunx hemm process fil qorti ghal darba Biss.Tajba din il ligi sakemm ma tkunx repetuta ghax xorta il quddiem ikollok konsegwenzi horox bhal ma tista titlef l-impjieg ,ghax tkun imwissi izjed minn darba biss,u meta tkun ivvizzjat xorta il persuna ser tinjora il ligi .Allura il konsegwenzi ser ikunu xorta iebsa il quddiem sakemm ma jillegalizzawx il cannabis.Il parir tieghi huwa li ma nazqux, u fil fiehema tieghi ghax jiena garrabt ,ma tohloqx problemi li jistaw iwasslu ghal konsegwenzi ghar.....Hawn xi hadd jippruvali li il bidu tal cannabis ma jwassalx ghal Heavy Drugs....fil kaz staqsu lili jew lil CARITAS....ftit baqaw fuq il kannabis u ma natiex parir lil beginners jippruvaw....'THINK BEFORE YOU ACT'
Ġ. Agius
Dec 4th 2011, 13:17
kieku kull min ipejjep joint jispicca jittaqqab tant ikun hawn siringi li jkolli nixtri hmar flok karozza habba l-punctures
Mario Busuttil
Dec 4th 2011, 14:06
Xorta wahda ma tistax tipprova dejjem li il biggenners fuq il marijuana huma zgurati li ma jkomplux fuq l Eroina jew Il Cocaina...sur Agius,,,vera li hawn persuni li baqaw ipejpu il marijuana biss ,imma it tendenza hi li jaqilbu ghal heavier drugs, kif kien hawn hafna li spiccaw bhali.Ghalhekk fiha innifisa il Ligi ser tkun protetta ghal first time users biss fuq il Kriminalita u mhux fuq PREVENZJONI sabiex ma tabbuzzax minn sustanzi narkotici li jistaw iwasslluk ghal kollox.....Prevention is better than Cure...
David Caruana
Dec 4th 2011, 14:35
Mario,
Kull min kellhu bżonn l-għajnuna tal-Caritas għax spiċċa ħażin, kollha kellhom mobile phone - allura forsi l-mobile phone li jwassal għal drogi iktar perikolużi?
Billi kull min spiċċa jfaqqa' fil-vina pejjep joint xi darba f'ħajjtu, ma jfissirx li l-kannabis wasslitu s'hemm. Irranġuna ftit u saqsi lilek innifsek, bis-serjeta' taħseb li kieku l-kannabis qatt ma eżistiet fuq wiċċ id-dinja, dawk li waqgħu fuq l-eroina qatt ma kienu jispiċċaw hemm? L-addict għandhu problema li hija ikbar mis-sustanza li jabbuża biha!
Fuq li "ftit baqgħu fuq il-kannabis biss" oqgħod attent qabel ma tispara statement bħal dan għax nassigurak li l-maġġoranza li jpejjpu l-kannabis aqqas jaħsbu li jieħdu xi ħaġa oħra. Ovvjament ma tkunx taf bihom għax dawn nies li jiffunzjonaw normalment fis-soċjeta' - avukati, skrivana, studenti, tobba, professjonisti, atleti u kollha jkollhom iżommhu s-segretezza tagħhom minħabba l-ġudizzju żbaljat ta' ċerti mħuħ magħluqa.
Fuq il-parir li tajt int naqbel miegħek - nati parir liż-żgħar biex ma jippruvaw xejn la drogi, la kannabis, la tabakk, la xorb alkoħoliku, la ikel imxaħħam jew proċessat, la xorb biz-zokkor u bħalek ngħidilhom, jekk tkunu xorta ħa tippruvaw xi ħaġa dejjem "think and research before you act"
Fl-istess ħin inħeġġeġ lil dawk kollha li jaqblu li l-liġijiet tal-kannabis għandhom jiġu mibdula biex jingħaqdu magħna f'dimostrazzjoni paċifika li ser ssir fil-Belt Valletta nhar is-Sibt 17 ta' Jannar.
Għal iktar informazzjoni:
http://www.facebook.com/events/262867717095604/
Ġ. Agius
Dec 4th 2011, 15:50
le
Mr Austin Psaila
Dec 4th 2011, 13:08
At last Malta is coming out of the dark ages. Cannabis should somehow be made available & should not even be placed on any drug clasification list. America has moved on fast on Medical Marjuana shops & the tax revenue the US government is raking in is unbelievable.There are ways & means of taxing the stuff. It would surely boost our economy. Take a good read at this link. http://www.bnet.com/blog/sports-entertainment/business-and-government-jonesing-for-a-hit-of-pot-revenues/595#ixzz1PuB89tL0
Jimmy Magro
Dec 4th 2011, 13:32
Becasue the US Government raises money through cannabis, it is good to liberalise the market for cannabis. So the objective is to raise money and not to raise a humane society.
What shameful arguments now we have to read in these comments.
Mr David Borg
Dec 4th 2011, 12:56
The negative effects a similar reform in Portugal can be be found in ths report http://wfad.se/latest-news/1-articles/123-decriminalization-of-drugs-in-portugal--the-real-facts
Mark Farrugia
Dec 4th 2011, 14:23
I admire how unbiased your source is. I am still amazed how the World Federation Against Drugs is reporting "facts" which are Against Drugs
David Caruana
Dec 4th 2011, 14:45
"The Portuguese drug decriminalisation and harm reduction model has been in place for a decade and is a proven success. It is a shining example to the world that the human values of dignity, respect and freedom can challenge and replace the inhumanity, incarceration and barbarity of the War on Drugs."
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/11/201111211444824612.html
The World Federation Against Drugs is probably an organisation supported by the big $$$ of the major drug cartels because THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO WOULD OPPOSE LEGALISATION ARE THOSE WHO WOULD SUFFER MOST - THE DRUG LORDS!
Mr David Borg
Dec 4th 2011, 12:45
The decriminalization of drug abuse will encourage more drug abuse. We also know that drug abusers often commit other crimes as theft, bodily harm and sometimes even murder to fund their habit.
J lanzon
Dec 4th 2011, 13:42
How do you explain the case of Portugal then? Know what your saying before speaking.
Ivan Mizzi
Dec 4th 2011, 12:28
Paroli.
Mario Busuttil
Dec 4th 2011, 12:23
Bhala ligi hija tajba hafna ghal min ikun l-ewwel darba li jinqabad bl' LIGHT' drug ,bhal ma hija il cannabis ,imma il principju huwa dwar il process tal kriminalita fejn jista jwasslek ,bhal per ezempju meta tkun imwissi biss u ma jkunx hemm process fil qorti ghal darba Biss.Tajba din il ligi sakemm ma tkunx repetuta ghax xorta il quddiem ikollok konsegwenzi horox bhal ma tista titlef l-impjieg ,ghax tkun imwissi izjed minn darba biss,u meta tkun ivvizzjat xorta il persuna ser tinjora il ligi .Allura il konsegwenzi ser ikunu xorta iebsa il quddiem sakemm ma jillegalizzawx il cannabis.Il parir tieghi huwa li ma nazqux, u fil fiehema tieghi ghax jiena garrabt ,ma tohloqx problemi li jistaw iwasslu ghal konsegwenzi ghar.....Hawn xi hadd jippruvali li il bidu tal cannabis ma jwassalx ghal Heavy Drugs....fil kaz staqsu lili jew lil CARITAS....ftit baqaw fuq il kannabis u ma natiex parir lil biggeners jippruvaw....'THINK BEFORE YOU ACT'
Pamela Borg
Dec 4th 2011, 13:39
Of course many & many people start with cannabis & move on to heroin but it's not as you're saying. I know many & many more people who smoke cannabis & have smoked it for 5 years, 10 years, 40 years & they never touched anything else. It depends on the person. I do not believe that someone who goes to a cafe to smoke cannabis will end up being a drug addict.
Mr Lawrence Calleja
Dec 4th 2011, 12:22
Drug possession should continue to be a crime and punsihable with imprisonment. It is those who abuse with drugs that commit theft, bulglaries, hold-ups and other crimes.
Pamela Borg
Dec 4th 2011, 13:34
Mr Calleja, please read below, what Mr David Caruana said. Only if you are ignorant you will classify all drugs as being the same. So you're saying that someone who smokes cannabis at home after a hard days' work to relax is the one who is commiting bulglaries etc...???
C'mon seriously, if you know nothing about drugs, you should inform yourself before commenting. Cannabis is one thing & heroin is something that is so different that it's like comparing the sun & the moon. Of course we also have other drugs that come in between those two. Should I call someone who has a glass of wine with dinner an alcoholic??? Can I compare that person to someone who wakes up to a bottle of wine & by the time they go to bed in the evening they would have consumed 7 bottles.
Malta get informed & get rid of your ignorance.
J lanzon
Dec 4th 2011, 13:40
Drug possession in general, you mean? Cannabis itself is not a drug so, personally it has nothing to do with the law. No one has a right to say, what or what not to do in your own time and what you spend with your own money and doing to your own body.
David Caruana
Dec 4th 2011, 14:21
Please specify which drugs! Heroin? Cocaine? the Cannabis herb? Khat? Ecstasy?
David Caruana
Dec 4th 2011, 12:04
“A youth caught smoking cannabis recreationally is one thing; a couple of youths found shooting heroin is something different altogether."
AMEN to that!
Still, all we hear is youths, youths and kids - which is good, the young need to be protected BUT what about adults who function normally within society while lighting a spliff in the comfort of their home in the evening?
Classify drugs.
Legalise, regulate and tax cannabis sales.
Legalisation is the only way to control the market. A coffee-shop style outlet would be bound by licensing rules to accept entry only to customer above a certain age.
DRUG DEALERS DO NOT ASK FOR I.D. CARDS AND OFFER A WHOLE VARIETY OF DRUGS!
Mr Austin Psaila
Dec 4th 2011, 12:52
Well said Mr Caruana that is the only way forward.
Raymond Farrugia
Dec 4th 2011, 11:55
The beginning of the end. We'll see were we'll get to in twenty year's time!
Mark Farrugia
Dec 4th 2011, 14:26
Hopefully a happier country, with more open-minded people and a better view on politics and human-rights. (and hopefully people will learn how to spell "where" :P (just joking Mr. Farrugia ;) ) )
Charles Muscat
Dec 4th 2011, 11:40
Good call. Come on Malta let's change with the time.
J lanzon
Dec 4th 2011, 11:31
It's nice to see this side of the government, but this ain't anough! .. You should never get convicted of using cannabis.
Please choose the reason of your report below: