Reuters noted that Malta has become the first European country to legalise cannabis and published photos of cannabis activists outside Parliament celebrating the passing of the law.   

The Guardian spoke to Reforms Minister Owen Bonnici, who said there is “a wave of understanding now” that the hard-fist approach against cannabis users was disproportionate, unjust and rendering a lot of suffering to people who are leading exemplary lives but are placed “in the jaws of criminality” due to their personal use of the plant.

“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,” he said.

The Washington Post noted that Malta will just edge Luxembourg and Germany and that its move “comes amid a global shift toward local and nationwide decriminalization, and in some cases legalization, of the cultivation, sale and consumption of cannabis.”

It also quoted what Tom Blickman of the Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute told a webinar hosted by EMCDDA last October.

“The transatlantic winds of change that have been blowing in the Americas for a while have now reached the shores in Europe,” he had said, adding there is growing consensus of a need to “take back control of an illicit and criminal market that in fact is out of control in terms of protecting public health.”

LADbible said that Malta’s law could cause a snowball effect across Europe, noting moves in this direction by the likes of Germany, Switzerland and Italy. However, it said there’s “no such luck” in the UK as the government is still intent on waging a “war on drugs”.

Politico also made reference to the new German coalition government’s decision to legalise the sale of cannabis to adults for recreational purposes.

The Daily Mail quoted Lovin Malta as reporting the reforms are intended to regulate personal cannabis use and to reduce the harm it can do. It also provided a breakdown of other countries which have legalised and decriminalised cannabis so far, from Canada to South Africa.

Euronews spoke to Times of Malta’s editor-in-chief Herman Grech, who pointed out that Malta has gone from being one of the only countries in the world not to allow divorce to legalising divorce, gay marriage and other LGBT rights.

“This was the next progressive law,” he said.

Yahoo News quoted a speech Prime Minister Robert Abela gave in Parliament last month in which he said people shouldn’t have to resort to the black market to buy cannabis and that he wants to spare parents the “trauma” of their child being arrested and dragged to court over a joint.

Are you pleased with Malta’s decision to legalise cannabis for personal use?