Malta will become the first European country to legalise the production of cannabis for personal use this week, setting a precedent for the continent that will shortly be followed by Luxembourg.
The legislation — expected to be backed in a Maltese parliamentary vote tomorrow — will also let those aged 18 and above possess up to seven grams of cannabis. Individuals will be allowed to cultivate up to four cannabis plants at home.
It is expected to swiftly be rubber-stamped by President Vella, and will be followed by similar moves in Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Italy plans to hold a referendum on the issue next year.
Lovin Malta, a local news website, said the reforms sought to regulate personal cannabis usage to reduce harm, protect recreational users and prevent them from being “pushed into the illegal market”.
Owen Bonnici, minister for equality, research and innovation, told Malta Today: “We want to reduce the suffering, humiliation and deprivation of other rights that many cannabis users have experienced when they have been subjected to arrest and judicial proceedings on possession of small amounts.”
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Malta’s opposition Nationalist Party criticised the move, with Bernard Grech, its leader, warning in October: “The relaxation of the laws will only lead to the strengthening of the illegal market, with organised crime taking advantage.”
Bonnici told The Guardian: “I’m very glad that Malta will be the first country which will put words in statute in a comprehensive manner with a regulatory authority.
“There is a wave of understanding now that the hard-fist approach against cannabis users was disproportionate, unjust and it was rendering a lot of suffering to people who are leading exemplary lives. But the fact that they make use on a personal basis of cannabis is putting them in the jaws of criminality.”
In the Netherlands, perhaps the country most associated with liberal drug policies, it is at present a criminal offence to possess, produce or deal in drugs, although using drugs is not illegal for those aged 18 years or older.
