I refer to the editoral ‘Drug addiction and law reform’ (April 9). Aġenzija Sedqa would like to make the clarifications below.

The editorial said that “Sedqa, the rehabilitation agency entrusted with drafting the national drug policy…”. Aġenzija Sedqa was never entrusted with this task, neither in 2008, when the original policy was published, nor recently (2013) when a revision exercise of this policy was carried out by then Minister Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca’s request.

In both cases the policy and its revision were carried out by the Ministry for the Family and Social Solidarity. Aġenzija Sedqa was consulted, similarly to other agencies and departments, but it was not entrusted with its drafting.

“[Sedqa] has proposed the decriminalisation of soft drugs.” Aġenzija Sedqa’s stand is in favour of the decriminalisation of all (not just soft) drugs as long as they are deemed to be for strictly personal use. Even though we argued in favour of decriminalisation, we also emphasised that this does not mean that persons who are found in possession of an illicit substance should be dismissed as if nothing happened but that they are followed and offered (bio-psychosocial) treatment according to their particular needs rather than incarceration.

Aġenzija Sedqa was also among the first constituted bodies in our country that advocated in favour of drug courts where the judge/magistrate is assisted by a team of professionals who would advise him/her about the best way to deal with such cases in a holistic manner.

Another advantage of this court would be that cases are adjudicated in a timely manner rather than having a number of years elapsing between the alleged commission of the offence and its eventual related conviction.