They could be your children

When Alternattiva Demo­kratika started talking about the decriminalisation of drugs for personal use, and the classification between soft and hard drugs, the reaction of the general public was bigger than expected. Numerous people either contacted the party directly or expressed their opinion online about how wrong and unjust our laws on drugs are.

Cultivating a cannabis plant, no matter how small the amount, is punished by the equivalent of trafficking drugs

Unfortunately, the reaction from both major political parties was completely different. Not only are they unwilling to take on board AD’s (and Sedqa’s) suggestions but they don’t even seem interested in discussing the issue. The latest statement on the issue came from Minister Mary Louise Coleiro categorically stating that “decriminalisation is not on our agenda”

This is very sad because decriminalising drugs is actually about decriminalising people. People whose lifestyle we may frown upon but are not harming anyone.

What we’re inviting politicians from both major parties to at least start discussing is not whether drugs are damaging. There is consensus among the whole political spectrum that they are.

What we want to discuss is whether turning people who use them (who may or may not be addicts, depending on the individual and the drug in question) into criminals is actually benefitting anyone.

Research makes it glaringly obvious that criminalising drug users only makes matters worse. As an example, there is a higher percentage of drug addicts in Iran where simple possession is punished with long prison sentences and trafficking can be punished by death, than in Portugal where the personal use of all drugs is not a crime.

Classifying soft and hard drugs into Type A and Type B drugs is also long overdue. Drug policy in Malta makes no distinction between what kind of drug is used when handing out punishment. In other words trafficking the same amount of heroin or cannabis in the same circumstances, brings down the same punishment. This is not only absurd when considering the immense difference in the harm caused by these drugs but it is also counter-productive. Drugs like heroin and cocaine are not only more harmful than drugs like cannabis or khat but also much more expensive. Risking the same penalties is nothing more than an incentive for potential traffickers to deal in the former, where the big money is.

There is also another anomaly in Maltese law that urgently needs to be corrected. It is an anomaly thanks to which people who have never made a cent out of selling drugs are spending irrationally long terms in prison.

The most shocking case is that of Daniel Holmes who is right now spending 10 and a half years in prison for the cultivation of cannabis plants for his personal use.

The anomaly is that Maltese law doesn’t distinguish between the cultivation of ‘illegal’ plants for personal use and the cultivation in larger amounts with the intention to sell. Cultivating a cannabis plant, no matter how small the amount, is punished in the equivalent of trafficking drugs. It is a known fact that a number of cannabis users prefer growing their own plants instead of resorting to drug traffickers in order to supply themselves. Little do they know that their innocuous act put them at risk of prison sentences possibly longer than those handed to a rapist or a paedophile. And while ignorance of the law is no excuse when handing out a sentence, one could not really blame them for thinking their action doesn’t carry a prison sentence, let alone a long one, since they don’t see themselves as drug traffickers – and in fact they aren’t.

One might easily argue: “Why bother? If you don’t like drug users around, lock them up and keep them away from our sight.”

Some parents might easily be fooled into thinking that because they are happily married, treat their children well and watch them get high grades in school, then their children would never touch drugs. Bad things happen to bad parents only, right? Unfortunately this is not the case. No one is immune, not even your children.

And I’m pretty sure that the last thing every good parent unfortunate enough to discover that his children are using drugs wants, is to watch them dragged away in handcuffs.

I’m also sure that the same politicians who don’t even want to bother discussing the decriminalisation of possession of drugs for personal use would be scrambling to find the best lawyers available to acquit these same drug users if they happen to be their own children.

Robert Callus is AD spokesman on drugs policy.