Fines for simple drug possession will be in line with those issued for smoking indoors and similar offences, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici has told The Sunday Times of Malta.
“The fines will have to be higher than the ones issued for traffic violations and will be pegged to those for smoking and so on,” he said.
The maximum fine for smoking indoors is €250. Dr Bonnici said, however, the fines for drug possession were expected to be higher – depending on the drug used.
“This should be in line with practices already adopted across the EU. Cannabis and cocaine won’t be treated the same way,” he said.
Dr Bonnici was giving a round-up of the public consultation on the drug reform, which will draw to a close tomorrow. After the consultation, Dr Bonnici will take his proposals to Cabinet where a final Bill will be drafted to be tabled in Parliament next month.
Exact figures for fines and other specifics on the reform will be thrashed out with the rest of Cabinet but Dr Bonnici said he already had a clear idea of how the system should work.
Dr Bonnici said he would be pushing for the review to be brought into force by December and hoped for unanimous agreement across the House.
I’m going to gatecrash Parliament on this
“I am going to gatecrash Parliament on this. I don’t want any delay,” he said.
Asked if he thought the new system would lead to increased drug use, Dr Bonnici insisted the contrary would be the case.
“I don’t think anyone will take the fines lightly. They will be a good enough deterrent. If anything we will see less drug use as we will be investing more in the social aspect of getting people off drugs,” he said.
Aim to put penalties in proportion
Above all, Dr Bonnici hopes the reform will end the “disproportionality” between drug penalties and the act of simple possession.
Maltese politicians’ tendency to lean towards harsher penalties for drug users, he said, had failed.
“Politicians have historically erred on the side of stricter penalties, but in doing so we have been doing a disservice to users and society in general. We are putting sense where there was little,” he said.
The drug reform will not only see laws for users changed, but will include setting up a number of new bodies, including an Asset Management Bureau tasked with confiscating and administering drug barons’ illicit earnings.
Dr Bonnici said the bureau would likely see representatives of stakeholders, such as the police, Attorney General and the law courts, sit on a board to decide how to administer the funds.
The main aim of the new entity will be to manage funds for an improved free legal aid system.
“I want the money to go towards offering a better legal aid system for those who can’t afford legal assistance,” he said, adding he was “very ambitious” about how much money the body would manage.
Asked for a reaction to Dr Bonnici’s proposals, PN General Secretary Chris Said said the Opposition would wait for a public consultation document being drafted by the party’s youth forum, MŻPN, before taking a position on the contentious reform.
The PN had put forward a set of proposals of its own earlier this summer; however, these stopped short of decriminalising cannabis.
Dr Bonnici highlighted the matter as the main bone of contention in the reform.