‘People Should Be Responsible’ Over Cannabis But Government’s Hidden Agenda Is Making Money, ADPD Candidate Warns
ADPD Candidate and doctor Anthony Buttigieg has given his blessing to persons willing to use cannabis recreationally, so long as the law permits such persons to do so.
His sentiments mirror the very same proposals exhibited in the Party’s manifesto, which was unveiled this very week.
“I am personally against non-medicinal drug use in any form. I don’t even smoke,” Buttigieg said. “But I have no issues with totally decriminalising cannabis use, per se.”
“It does not mean I feel that my opinion should be imposed on others. At the end of the day people are responsible for their own health.”
“However, I still believe the new law has a hidden agenda to enable certain people to make a lot of money. Unfortunately, time has proven that this government does nothing if there is nothing to gain for someone.”
In their manifesto, ADPD highlighted the Global Commission’s policy on drugs, wherein a key recommendation was to “put an end to the criminalisation, marginalisation and stigmatisation of drug users, so long as they bring no harm to others.”
Changes in drug laws were indeed approved by Parliament recently. Changes which did meant the end to criminalising those in possession of cannabis for personal use. A step which ADPD regarded as one “in the right direction.” Regardless, there is still some issues to fix.
“[The law serves] as a strong basis for developing a broad consensus in the country on how to treat cannabis,” they wrote, referencing Daniel Holmes, the man sentenced to prison as a result of his own cannabis plant growth.
Since it is still relatively new territory, in the eyes of the Maltese at least, the Party maintained that a consultation process to strengthen the legal framework on responsible cannabis use is not an ‘end of life’ exercise, but an ongoing consultation with professionals.
“At this critical juncture, it is essential that drug reform receive the greatest possible support. Consent needs to be as broad as possible. This is necessary to possibly isolate those elements of society who must believe that the hard hand of the law can solve everything and so it is justified for them to continue to oppose decriminalisation,” the Party wrote.
“It is estimated that in 2021 there were 40,000 cannabis users in Malta. This is the result of 40 years of use against those in Malta who use cannabis. The iron hand, the criminalisation of personal use cannabis production has not yielded positive results over the years. It has ruined the lives of many people in vain.”
“ADPD have always supported the need for a reform when it comes to the politics tied to drug use. In a general sense but also specifically decriminalising the possession for personal use of cannabis. The AD electoral manifesto in 2017 was the only one addressed it, in fact.”
“The way forward in drug reform is to treat possession for personal use differently from drug trafficking.”
Do you think there are still many lacunae in the legal framework tied to cannabis use?