Distinctions should be made between drug addicts forced into trafficking and big-time drug barons, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici told Times of Malta after launching a White Paper on the decriminalisation of drugs.

He insisted the proposed law on drug reform should distinguish between those selling drugs to finance their own vice and those who bring large quantities of drugs into the island.

“In some genuine cases, traffickers who are addicts should not necessarily face prison. This will not be a blanket proposal but one tackled on a case-by-case basis.”

Apart from decriminalising drug use for first-time offenders, it proposes that cannabis users no longer face criminal proceedings.

The minister yesterday said the courts should have the discretion to hand down alternative penalties in drug cases, including to those guilty of trafficking or aggravated possession.

The proposal, he said, was partly prompted by his own experiences as a lawyer where the courts’ hands were often tied by legal framework.