New judge Lawrence Quintano, who built up a wealth of experience in dealing with drug cases during his time as Magistrate, has urged society not to give up on the victims of drug abuse.

In a speech during his first sitting in the Superior Courts today, Mr Justice Quintano said society should not condemn the current generation of young people, but rather, seek to understand them better.

"All people of good will should not fear lending a hand. A little patience can mean new hope for many young people who have strayed; it can mean that some people do not lose their job; and it can mean that families are united like never before."

Dr Quintano said there were moments during his years as Magistrate which he would never forget.

Once, when entering the law courts, a lawyer told him that a young man been able to hold on to his job after he had suggested to his employer to give him another chance and not kick him out because he had been found in possession of a small amount of drugs.

In another case, the father of a man who he had condemned to prison told him that the whole family used to visit the youth in prison whenever they were allowed to. The family had been brought together, and this unfortunate incident had left a positive effect.

In another case, a person who used to traffic drugs had changed like day from night. This man had acknowledged his mistake, started job training, and was now enjoying a well-paid job which he would not even have dreamed of some years ago.

"I am saying all this in order to urge everyone not to give up in the face of the drug problem," Mr Justice Quintano said.

Everyone wanted this problem to disappear, but this could never happen.

Mr Justice Quintano underlined the role of the parents.

Most of these parents he said, were good members of society who loved their family. They suddenly found themselves in court when they would never have been there before.

In such cases, such parents needed to find help and support since, in many cases, they would not even have realised that their children were taking drugs.

In practically every case, Dr Quintao said, he used to ask the parents to approach the bench and he used to urge them to help their children. He even used to persuade them to regularly visit their children at the prisons, ignoring what the neighbours said.

But it was not just the parents who could help.

Dr Quintano said he wished to thank the many individuals and NGOs who were voluntarily helping people with drug problems.

Such people, he said, always had a smile on their face, despite their hard work. Among them, he said, were those who worked for Sedqa, Caritas and Oasi.

They enjoyed the fruit of their labours when drug addicts recovered, even when that happened after the second attempt, since rehabilitation was a difficult process.

"It is important to remain optimistic, even when matters do not seem to be going well."

Mr Justice Quintano stressed that what he was saying did not mean that one should accept the various excuses made for drug-taking. Other people would had faced the same problems, without touching drugs.

In his speech the new judge praised the Police Drug Squad including Assistant Commissioner Neil Harrison, Supt Norbert Ciappara and Inspectors Pierre Grech, Dennis Theuma and Jesmond Borg, as well as former officers, saying they were going about their duties with bravery.

He also praised probation officers for their dedication, often beyond the call of duty.

"It is useless to send people to the correctional facility, unless we can help those who we can change, and unless we believe that change can be achieved," Dr Quintano said

He remembered an instance when probation officers noticed that he was worried about a person, who was not young, whom he had imprisoned and who, he felt, needed help. A probation officer of her own free will offered to take on the case and went to prison to talk to this person.

"The result was surprising and very emotional. The generosity of this probation officer was rewarded as what had appeared to be impossible became possible and this person was rehabilitated."

Dr Quintano stressed that drug rehabilitation did not consist only of methadone treatment.

Many cases, he said, stemmed from people giving up on life. Young people, therefore, had to be given a purpose in life, even if that purpose was to take care of their children, collecting football pictures or taking responsibility for a village activity.

The new judge also thanked Caritas director Mgr Victor Grech, saying that he had used their friendship to occasionally ask him to help some persons, and Mgr Grech never said no.