Jubilee Post News & Views
Special Desk
Cultivating cannabis for personal use is legal in Malta that has become first EU country to legalise the cultivation and personal use of cannabis.
Also adults will be allowed to carry up to seven grams of cannabis, and grow no more than four plants at home. However smoking in public or in front of children remains illegal.
Some other nations have similar plans, such as Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland. Countries like the Netherlands tolerate cannabis use in certain circumstances.
Malta’s parliament voted in favour of the reform with the bill winning 36 votes in support and 27 against use and plantation of cannabis.Equality Minister, Owen Bonnici, said the historic move would stop small-time cannabis users from facing the criminal justice system, and would curb drug trafficking by making sure that they (users) now have a safe and regularised way from where they can obtain cannabis. However, Malta’s opposition Nationalist Party voted against the change.
In October, its leader Bernard Grech – who initially supported the new law – warned it would only lead to the strengthening of the illegal market, with organised crime taking advantage.
Opponents have called on Malta’s president, George Vella, not to sign it into law, which is the final, ceremonial stage.
Under the changes, anyone carrying more than seven grams, but less than 28g could be fined up to dollar 112.
There will be punishment for smoking in public, and those smoking cannabis in front of anyone younger than 18 years.
Associations will be set up to distribute the drug or seeds to cultivate cannabis, therefore regulating how much someone buys – and a person can only be a member of one association.
There is also support for minors who are found with cannabis. They will be recommended a care plan or treatment as opposed to facing arrest or criminal charges.
The move by Malta, the EU’s smallest member state, is likely to be the first of a number of nations changing their cannabis laws after the UN last year reclassified cannabis to recognise its therapeutic uses.
The governments of Luxembourg, Germany and Switzerland have all announced plans to establish a legally regulated market.
Cannabis is still technically illegal in the Netherlands. However there is a tolerance for the drug when it is sold in the coffee shops.
