Social Solidarity Minister Michael Farrugia yesterday shot down concerns that a decriminalisation policy could play into the hands of drug barons.
Dr Farrugia was reacting to comments by Auxiliary Bishop Charles Scicluna, who called on MPs to hold a deeper debate before “rushing into” legislation.
“My question is who is going to benefit from this new legislation?
“Is it society, or is it the drug barons,” Bishop Scicluna had asked in remarks carried by Times of Malta yesterday.
Speaking during a debate on decriminalisation, Dr Farrugia yesterday said such views should not come in the way of a comprehensive reform.
“We can’t push (drug) users away. We need to welcome them with open arms and give them all the help possible,” he said.
Dr Farrugia also referred to a family with a history of drug addiction whom he had recently met.
The family, he said, had been let down by the judicial and rehabilitative services, underscoring the need for total reform.
Dr Farrugia made his comments as a panel of experts and another of journalists debated whether drug users should be sent to prison.
Organised by the OASI rehabilitation centre in Gozo, the debate featured the government’s consultant for justice reform Kathleen Grima, criminal lawyer Franco Debono, forensic scientist Mario Mifsud, psychiatrist Anton Grech, lobbyist David Caruana and a group of journalists discussing the pros and cons of introducing a decriminalisation policy.
Chairman of the Mental Health Services, Dr Grech, said he did not feel users should be sent to prison but should receive treatment.
He later specified that this was his personal opinion and did not necessarily reflect that of the MHS.
The sentiment appeared to be shared by the majority of people in the audience, which included spokesmen from a number of drug rehabilitation centres and national agencies, including the National Drug Commission, whose representative said it was in favour of decriminalisation.
The former head of the National Forensic Laboratory, Mario Mifsud, did not commit to a position on the matter but had previously told this newspaper that decriminalisation was “inevitable”.
Currently advising MPs on the upcoming drug reform, Dr Mifsud yesterday said the UN had taken steps towards decriminalisation that could not be ignored.
Journalist Raphael Vassallo and pro-legalisation campaigner David Caruana also expressed themselves in favour of decriminalisation.
Television personality Peppi Azzopardi said he agreed with the late President Guido de Marco, who had said users should not be sent to prison. He later said he had no problem with his son’s teacher smoking cannabis on the weekend but would not want him to teach while high on the drug.