Could cannabis social clubs become a reality in Malta in the near future? 

It’s still early days, but the Labour Party has officially endorsed this model when calling for cannabis reform and Prime Minister Robert Abela has now said the government will consider these proposals. 

Speaking on the PL’s media station ONE this morning, Abela said the government received around 350 submissions at the end of a public consultation process on a recent White Paper calling for further decriminalisation of cannabis for personal use.

He highlighted the submissions made by the PL, noting that they will be considered along with the other submissions but not necessarily implemented.  

The PL has proposed the full legalisation of cannabis for personal use, along with social clubs which would grow cannabis on behalf of users as well as an outlet for people to purchase cannabis and seeds and the establishment of private areas to be used as a private zone for multiple users to utilise.

“This is how a political party should operate,” Abela said. “If the party doesn’t act as an important tool to improve our work, then what’s the point of it? The party is a catalyst for change, a reformist and living party, and its proposals will be considered.”

Abela proceeded to take a dig at the Nationalist Party for not submitting a single proposal in the public consolation process.

“We cannot consider the PN’s proposals because it chose to be absent from this process,” he said. “I don’t understand this. A few weeks ago, the PN said it will consult and discuss and it just continued consulting and discussing until the public consultation period ended. Ultimately it’s the PN’s choice and if it wants to be absent from such an important topic, it can. We’ll continue reforming and we’ve never abdicated our responsibility to take decisions.” 

On Tuesday, the PN said it would be giving its own vision for the future of cannabis laws on the island “in the coming days” but it hasn’t presented it yet.