When one comes to evaluate if the war against drugs has been successful or otherwise, one must consider how many more social and fatal problems there would be if drugs were legally available.

The experience of alcohol shows that legal substances have a greater toll than the illegal kind and lead to great social difficulties.

Answering a parliamentary question by Labour MP Silvio Parnis, ­Family Minister Chris Said said there was no doubt that in the past 30 years, in spite of the illegality of the importation, trafficking, possession and consumption of drugs, they had left behind a number of victims in the sense of dependence, with all its consequences, in the number of victims of drug-related crimes and in tragic deaths by overdose.

The Drug Commission Report and the Portuguese experience had led all those involved in several countries to reflect deeply on the question of illegality of certain substances.

Dr Said said it appeared that in Malta there was a consensus in favour of the decriminalisation of a number of substances.

This meant that while the substance itself would remain illegal and constitute a crime, it would not be punishable by jail so that dependants could be committed to care.