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Malta Has Some Of Cheapest Illegal Drug Prices, Quality Also Among The Worst

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An annual report by the EMCDDA (that’s European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction) called the European Drug Report was published last week, and it’s revealed some pretty worrying statistics about Malta.

Cocaine, heroin and MDMA (ecstasy) prices in Malta are some of the lowest in Europe (sometimes drastically below average), but there’s a catch; their purity levels are also at a record-low. Cannabis, on the other hand, actually some of the highest prices… but marijuana tends to also have extremely low-potency. In other words, illegal drugs in Malta are dirt cheap, but they might very well be half-dirt.

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In each diagram, the top bar refers to potency levels, with the bottom one referring to average prices.

The report states that cocaine (smuggled mainly through Spain) was sold in Malta for around €64 a gram and had a purity rate of just 15%. Heroin (mostly imported from Turkey through North Africa) was sold at €60 a gram and had a purity rate of 20%. There was no specific data given on MDMA purity rates, but the very low price range (around €9 per tablet) tallied with the other illicit drugs. 

Interestingly, herbal cannabis is the only illicit drug cultivated locally, but with an average price of €18 per gram, it sits at the more expensive side of the spectrum (the very top of European prices rise to €30). Meanwhile, cannabis resin (imported from Tunisia and Libya) is even more expensive, with €25 per gram. And while European potency levels for herbal cannabis and cannabis resin can go up to 46 and 87%, both of Malta’s expensive counterparts don’t even get to 10%.

Earlier last month, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat proposed a national discussion on the regulation of cannabis, a view which was quickly supported by PN leader Simon Busuttil and Partit Demokratiku’s Marlene Farrugia. Dr. Muscat had said he was deeply conflicted on drug decriminalisation but understood the arguments on both sides and said it was time to look at the models being adopted by Portugal and Canada. “I am concerned by the notion of my children experimenting with drugs, but at the same time I understand that maintaining its illegal status favours traffickers,” the Prime Minister had said.

The European Drug Report also found that the number of illicit drug seizures in Malta has doubled since 2009, with cannabis resin remaining the most prevalent drug seized (70 kilos confiscated in 132 major seizures in 2015, on which this EDR was based).

What do you make of all this? Let us know in the comments below.

READ NEXT: School, Church, Counting Halls – This Is Where People Take Drugs In Malta

Lovin Malta's Head of Content, Dave has been in journalism for the better half of the last decade. Prefers Instagram, but has been known to doomscroll on TikTok. Loves chicken, women's clothes and Kanye West (most of the time).

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