Under the Joseph Muscat administration, with its serious love of demographic data and emerging trends, the idea of loosening weed laws began appearing more and more on their agenda.

As Opposition Leader in 2012, Muscat had spoken about his approach to cannabis activists, saying that if he was to tackle it, it would be in his second legislature.

By 2017, as Muscat was seeking his second legislature, the topic of cannabis did indeed make it into the Labour Party’s electoral manifesto.

Unlike other “controversial” topics like abortion or even divorce, cannabis didn’t seem to have as much pushback as many expected at a social level. And with it being a vote winner among a number of demographics, Labour seemed to be cemented in their vision to take the topic into their range of key issues.

Then Muscat’s administration collapsed in 2019, and current Prime Minister Robert Abela inherited the possible reform after Muscat’s resignation.

It’s no secret that many expected Abela, who previously worked as a lawyer with rehabilitation group Caritas and is seen to be socially conservative in a general sense, to de-prioritise the reform or to water it down to the point of being meaningless.

Instead, his view of the situation was shaped by his experience as a lawyer who could see people getting unfairly dragged through the courts for smoking a joint and who ended up wasting years of their life fighting the case.

While Abela was reluctant to view cannabis as a new economic niche, he realised that the reform would only benefit the black market unless it provided a legal avenue from which people could purchase the plant.

Of course, there was also the added political benefit to overseeing a pioneering social reform.

Just as his predecessor had been able to say he brought same-sex civil rights to the island as a legacy, no matter what allegations were thrown against him – Abela could now place the cannabis reform feather in his cap, and tick that social box.

Beyond the Prime Ministers involved, several Reforms Ministers were entrusted with developing the framework and figuring out what a legal cannabis industry may look like on the island.

Julia Farrugia Portelli, by all accounts, didn’t really understand the sector – and seemed to lack any interest in figuring it out. After about two years in the role, absolutely zero progress had been made, before she was moved on to Tourism Minister. She is now Inclusion Minister.

Rosianne Cutajar then took on the role. Young, energetic and keenly aware of what the cannabis community desired, she was able to develop a strong, lean team of lawyers and consultants to begin working out what the framework would look like.

She also became the first ever Maltese politician to publish a video on 4/20, the unofficial weed holiday, to Malta’s cannabis community, proving she was serious about the sector.

However, serious allegations involving suspected murder mastermind Yorgen Fenech and her close ties to him – possibly intimate – dogged her, until she was removed from the portfolio.

Then, Owen Bonnici took it on. He had overseen a decriminalisation effort in 2013 that, while a slight step in the right direction, also showed a lack of focus and understanding of the sector, leading to lots of confusion for years to come.

Known for pushing half-finished bills – and for overseeing the imprisonment of Daniel Holmes for 8 years for growing weed in Gozo – it was worrying for many to see him placed back in charge at such a critical moment.

Under Bonnici though, the 2021 bill passed, allowing people to grow four plants at home as well as carry up to seven grams in the street – a major step forward that was applauded, and for good reason.

But it wasn’t all perfect – a sketch of the framework to be implemented was now official, and it wasn’t great. It called for a not-for-profit system of walk-in, walk-out dispensaries that would have some type of membership system.

This system wasn’t one that pleased any particular group, but it was also non-offensive enough that the cannabis community was happy to support it – as long as it led to an actual safe, legal system where people could obtain weed without it feeling like a black market hoodlum.

This is where the Association for the Responsible Use of Cannabis and its first-ever chief, Mariella Dimech, came in.

Handpicked by Owen Bonnici in January 2022 – just the latest in his series of questionable decisions that invariably leads to months, if not years, of quiet political cleanup – Dimech came highly recommended as a psychotherapist who spent 21 years working with Caritas, specifically with drug victims and their families.

She gave a long interview to Lovin Malta soon after her appointment, promising the dispensary system would be up and running by the end of 2022.

Malta had high hopes for her. Everyone interested in the sector in Malta did.

Dimech was left to get to work. She organised a forum for potential cannabis dispensary owners in April, emphasising that anyone found promoting themselves at this early stage would be punished later.

After summer, the media began reaching out to her for a bit of an update. However, journalists were stonewalled, receiving little to no response, a big shift from Dimech’s previous hopeful tone.

Lovin Malta’s repeated requests for updates or new interviews were ignored, with some journalists even provided with an incorrect email, leading to the first major red flags beginning to be flagged.

Rumours abounded. Dimech wasn’t holding regular meetings, Dimech was taking media reports on her state salary personally – she signed an €82,000 a year contract, which means she’s among the highest paid public servants on the island, much more than the Prime Minister or President – and Dimech was still figuring out her personal take on the reform.

The end of 2022 approached – and stakeholders were getting antsy. The Lovin Malta email and office began recieving calls and emails from frustrated businessmen who had found investors and locations in 2022, to be ready to steam ahead once the calls for applications for dispensaries opened… only for it to never be opened.

Instead, they were told to wait and not promote any brand and were reminded they would be punished for doing so.

By November, the writing was truly on the wall. 11 months of reform, and the state had nothing to show for it. 

This week was an eye-opener for those in the know.

Late Thursday afternoon, rumours spread among a number of journalists that Dimech had either resigned from her role or been sacked. By the next morning, it was revealed that her contract had been terminated by Reforms Junior Minister Rebecca Buttigieg.

In a statement, Dimech blamed a number of things as the reason for her sacking and having made very little progress on implementing the reform. She went on to say that though she accepted the reform role, she actually didn’t agree with it – leading to questions as to why she even accepted the lucrative jon in the first place.

“Over the last 10 months I have worked with no functional office, no staff, no budget and a political strategy and decision strategy I disagreed with,” she said.

“I was personally approached by Prime Minister Robert Abela because of my vast experience and history addressing drug abuse and harm. I hope that any future policy implementation will recognise the great sensitivity of this initiative and ensure that the first priority is not financial gain of the few over the general interests and fabric of our national communities.”

Whether Dimech was just not competent, left under-resourced, or a mix of the two, all eyes now turn to Buttigieg, who has already replaced Dimech with former Housing Authority CEO and previous Caritas director Leonid McKay.

The cannabis reform is among Buttigieg’s first major reforms, and she’ll want to ensure that the cannabis community and stakeholders involved – from businessmen to users – don’t feel like the 2021 bill was rushed through purely as a vote winner for the 2022 election.

The Labour Party has been able to unequivocally cement the cannabis voting base as being on their side. Dimech’s tenure is a major strain on this grip, and if McKay takes another 11 months without showing anything for it, all faith in the reform will be lost.

Sources speaking to Lovin Malta described McKay as a “doer” – but 11 months ago, the same had been said of Dimech.

With thousands of people across Malta continuing to resort to buying their weed from the black market and nearly €82,000 in taxpayer money now in the pocket of someone who added little value to the national process, one has to wonder – will Malta really ever have a proper legal framework, or has this all been hot smoke blown up our collective asses?

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