First-time drug offenders should be given rehabilitation care plans, according to the Church’s anti-drug agency.
In its proposals for the upcoming drug law reform, Caritas said it agreed with removing criminal penalties imposed on first-time offenders but said each case should be assessed by a rehabilitation agency.
Sedqa and Caritas should also be allowed to keep detailed computer records of drug abusers and map out their rehabilitation, it is proposing.
The drug reform was announced by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat earlier this year and is expected to effectively decriminalise first time use of all drugs.
Each case should be assessed by a rehabilitation agency
The reform proposes the setting up of a special drugs board that will issue fines or impose conditions aimed at weaning users off drugs. This will only apply to those found in simple possession and threshold values will be set to guide the police on how to handle each case.
Breaking the board’s conditions will be viewed as a new offence and could land users in court.
Caritas said it agreed with the proposal for users not to face court action, despite having committed a crime. It called for a similar system to that being proposed by the government, which, it said, would treat drug abuse as a social rather than a criminal problem.
The drug reform is expected to take the decriminalisation process a step further. In June, this newspaper reported the reform would seek to completely decriminalise the personal use of cannabis.
Repeat offenders found in simple possession would not be processed by the new board and instead would only face a warning or an administrative fine.
Caritas had spoken up against the proposal in July and is again calling for depenalisation of the substance rather than outright decriminalisation. This, it said, would see cannabis retain its illegal status but smokers would be given a chance by society.
Referring to a study by psychiatrist Anton Grech, Caritas said there was a clear link between smoking cannabis, even in cases of limited to intermittent use, and mental health problems.
On medical marijuana, the agency said the issue should not be dealt with in the Bill introducing the reform because it was not related to recreational drug use.
Caritas said that those sharing drugs among friends should be given a chance before being taken to court.
It called for a new sentencing policy for cases that ended up in court and agreed with the introduction of new threshold values.
Justice Minister Owen Bonnici has repeatedly insisted that the reform would be hard on traffickers. In fact, the setting up of an asset management bureau is being proposed.
It will control assets confiscated from drug barons and will be similar to other institutions already in place across the EU.
Caritas agreed with the proposal and suggested distributing a portion of the funds among different rehabilitation agencies.
It called for the implementation of the Good Samaritan law, whereby drug users seeking assistance in the case of an overdose would not face any criminal charges for drug use.