Pope Francis had taken a very clear and unequivocal position in the debate about whether or not the use of some drugs should be legalised or not. He has taken to task the so-called ‘liberal’ stance that the legalisation of some drugs is the solution for drug abuse. His position can be simply paraphrased by two short sentenced: Don’t legalise drugs. It does not work.
The Pope was addressing heads of world anti-drug agencies at the 31st International Drug Enforcement Conference last Friday.
Read the Pontifical lips:
“Let me state this in the clearest terms possible: the problem of drug use is not solved with drugs! Drug addiction is an evil, and with evil there can be no yielding or compromise. To think that harm can be reduced by permitting drug addicts to use narcotics in no way resolves the problem. Attempts, however limited, to legalize so-called “recreational drugs”, are not only highly questionable from a legislative standpoint, but they fail to produce the desired effects. Substitute drugs are not an adequate therapy but rather a veiled means of surrendering to the phenomenon.”
Clear? Crystal clear I say.
He emphasised his position:
“Here I would reaffirm what I have stated on another occasion: No to every type of drug use. It is as simple as that. No to any kind of drug use.”
The Pope does not content himself with stating general principles about the problem. He is concrete as concrete can be.
The Pope’s words do not come in a vacuum. Last month Uruguay became the first country to legalise the production, sale and consumption of cannabis. The states of Colorado and Washington have already legalised the recreational use of cannabis, while a referendum will be held in Oregon probably this year.
What the Pope has said does not refer to the proposal mooted by the Labour MP Godfrey Farrugia. That proposal was for the legalisation of the medicinal use of some of the ingredients of cannabis. That is a very different ball game.
Although this proposal was inelegantly shot down by the Parliamentary Secretary for Health we now have been informed by the Attorney General, thanks to a report in The Times of Malta (23/06/2014) that current legislation permits the medicinal use of cannabis.
The Government has been making noises in the direction of legalisation of certain drugs in certain circumstances. One waits to see what this means in concrete terms. There is also a lobby amongst us suggesting that the legalisation of drugs is some great leap forward by humanity.
The Pope clearly is of the opinion that it isn’t.