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Maltese Doctor Charged With Drug Trafficking As New Cannabis Law Is Tested In Court

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Police are calling for a Maltese doctor’s medical license to be revoked, his bail denied and his clinic’s assets frozen after accusing him of trafficking cannabis illegally into the country in what is set to be the first major test of Malta’s new cannabis laws.

Dr Andrew Agius runs The Pain Clinic in Paola, a wellness centre that has been prescribing medical cannabis for years to its patients. 

However, a recent batch of medicinal cannabis – featuring less than 0.2% THC, which is the psychoactive element in cannabis – was intercepted by Maltese authorities, who believed it was normal, high THC cannabis.

This confusion over low THC and high THC cannabis has led to authorities – with the blessing of Malta’s Attorney General Victoria Buttigieg – to raid the Paola clinic and charge the Maltese doctor with the serious crimes of importation, trafficking and aggravated possession of cannabis flower under the dangerous drugs act.

However, his lawyers were having none of it, with Agius pleading not guilty to all charges, MaltaToday reported.

The issue stems from the definition of what a product really is – and whether cannabis flowers can be considered a product, and enjoy protections afforded to products.

Agius’ defence lawyers Giannella De Marco, Stephen Tonna Lowell and Alexander Scerri Herrera said in court that the cannabis imported by Agius had less than 0.2% THC and could not be considered a “psychotropic substance” since this low amount would not effect the body.

“The doctor is saying it’s a product, but the inspector is claiming that it is a prohibited drug,” they argued, noting the law didn’t define what a product was, and the imported package included processed cannabis buds.

However, the prosecution continued to call for a freezing order over Agius’ assets and to revoke his license.

“We are accusing him of importing and trafficking cannabis. If the Attorney General says that this is cannabis, and the man is selling it in his clinic, then the earnings of this clinic are part of the proceeds of the crime,” inspector Marshal Mallia said in court.

“We are talking about something with less than 0.2% THC and which therefore cannot be considered a psychotropic substance,” said Agius’ lawyers. 

Medicinal cannabis

Medicinal cannabis

Police requested that Agius not be given bail and be kept under police custody.

However, Magistrate Victor Axiaq upheld the request for bail after the defence noted Agius had a clean criminal record, was a medical doctor and had strong ties to Malta.

He was granted bail against a deposit of €120 and a personal guarantee of €5,000. The court did not impose a curfew or request the doctor to sign at a police station, telling him he could not go abroad and could not speak to other witnesses.

The issue of freezing the doctor’s assets showed the confusion surrounding whether cannabis was protected or not in Malta.

“Today we have decrees which have established that the onus is on the prosecution to justify the freezing order. It is intended to seize the proceeds of crime and I don’t think that because we disagree on the definition of a product, we should stop a person’s entire life,” Tonna Lowell said.

The court noted that a freezing order would impact employees salaries.

This would come after the employees had already been strip-searched and taken into custody by police in what some are calling a gross over-reach by authorities.  

However, inspector Mallia said the Attorney General was fine with this freezing order.

Magistrate Axiaq said the freezing order was not mandatory, with the court noting the low THC level in the medicinal products. However, inspector Mallia reiterated that the assets should be frozen regardless and that law didn’t consider THC level.

In response, the magistrate noted that there were three different chapters of the law being utilised to justify the freezing order, asking which one the prosecution was using.

“We are charging him under Chapter 101 (the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance). Money laundering,” Superintendent Keith Arnaud said.

“So not under Chapter 621 (the Proceeds of Crime Act)?” replied the court.

Arnaud said that any time there was a freezing order under Chapter 101, Chapter 621 was also applied. However, he said that some “flexible arrangements” could be made in this case.

“Am I hearing correctly? First we destroy a person and then try to fix him?” the court said in response.

“We are saying that the bud is a cannabis product,” Arnaud said. “And we are saying that it isn’t. We are disagreeing on this,” Tonna Lowell shot back.

Under the confusing circumstances, Magistrate Axiaq refused a freezing order, instead issuing a temporary freezing order on Agius’ assets

Malta’s government legalised medicinal cannabis back in 2018, and expanded protections for cannabis users late last year. However, the recent raid on a licensed clinic over what may very well be normal medicinal cannabis – and not high THC cannabis – may indicate a severe lack of training and understanding of these recent laws by both the police force as well as the office of the Attorney General.

The results of this court case may very well set a precedent to be used in coming years over how courts will approach low THC, medicinal cannabis importation – and how it will treat licensed doctors working in this emerging field.

What do you make of the arguments made in court in this case?

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Johnathan is an award-winning Maltese journalist interested in social justice, politics, minority issues, music and food. Follow him at @supreofficialmt on Instagram, and send him news, food and music stories at [email protected]

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