Reforms Minister Chooses Two Words To Describe Bernard Grech’s Cannabis Bill Stance
With Malta’s Parliament set to start discussing a cannabis bill in the coming days, the man in charge of the reform has taken a dig at the Opposition Leader for failing to clarify his party’s stance.
“Total confusion,” Reforms Minister Owen Bonnici said as he shared a video of Bernard Grech being asked for his position on the bill by a journalist from ONE TV, the media house owned by the ruling Labour Party.
Grech responded that the Opposition’s position will be made clear in Parliament, also throwing a curveball by saying that former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is “on the run because he’s a corrupt criminal”.
“Next week, Parliament will start discussing the important cannabis reform, which will make a difference to many people’s lives and show how Malta can be at the forefront of adopting concrete and strong harm reduction policies,” Bonnici said.
“The people know exactly what the government’s position is. We launched the bill 36 days ago and responded to every question by journalists about it, but with one week to go before Parliament starts discussing it, the Opposition has yet to reach a position.”
Lovin Malta recently interviewed Bonnici to discuss the cannabis reform bill in detail and you can watch it below.
The cannabis reform bill proposes that people will be able to carry up to seven grams of cannabis on their person and grow up to four plants at home.
It also proposes the formation of “cannabis associations”, NGOs which will be licensed to grow cannabis on behalf of its signed-up members.
A new Authority on the Responsible Use of Cannabis will be set up and people convicted of cannabis-related crimes that are no longer criminal will be able to get these details expunged from their criminal record.
While the PN has yet to take an official position on cannabis reform, Grech told Lovin Malta last August that the bill should tackle how people can purchase the plant through legal means to ensure the reform doesn’t ultimately benefit the black market.
Should Malta legalise cannabis for personal use?
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