Watch: ‘This Is A Real Injustice, Prime Minister’ – Cannabis Activist Alerts Abela To Ongoing Court Case
After Prime Minister Robert Abela insisted that people shouldn’t be dragged to court for no reason at all, a leading local cannabis activist has alerted him to a court case that has been dragging on for years.
During a recent interview with Lovin Malta’s Tim Diacono, ReLeaf president Andrew Bonello warned that the court case against doctor Andrew Agius is still ongoing three years after it started.
“We hear the Prime Minister saying that people shouldn’t be dragged to court for no reason and that injustices are happening,” he said. “Maybe we could start with this pensioner who is going in and out of court for having imported 2g of CBD or this doctor who has basically had all his accounts frozen.”
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In the early months of 2022, Andrew Agius’ Pain Clinic in Paola was targeted in a police raid over suspicion that a package of non-psychoactive CBD flowers was cannabis, and two of his receptionists, including a grandmother, were arrested and strip-searched.
Agius was promptly charged with trafficking and money laundering, his assets were frozen, and the prosecution even requested the revocation of his medical license.
This was all due to a grey area in the legal definition of whether CBD buds can be legally defined as “cannabis products” and therefore enjoy the same protections afforded to products.
“The case is still ongoing and will probably be so for a number of years because we’re used to these kinds of things dragging on,” Bonello said.
“His accounts are frozen, they raided his private practice and arrested and strip-searched his receptionists. It was quite traumatising, it was disgusting in our opinion, and it’s something which the Attorney General is still pursuing.”
Moreover, he warned that ReLeaf has heard of similar cases, including some “heartbreaking” stories.
He reminded Attorney General Victoria Buttigieg that the WHO has recommended that CBD shouldn’t be treated as a controlled substance.
“It’s a non-psychoactive cannabinoid with no addiction properties and it’s being considered safe by the WHO. I don’t see why we are picking on people for trying to use this medicine,” he said.
Should the Attorney General drop the case against Andrew Agius?