Malta’s courts are having a change of heart when it comes to the country’s oppressive cannabis laws with a man found guilty of cultivating cannabis plants for his personal use escaping jail time.

Adrian Marmara was first arrested back in 2007 when police uncovered three cannabis plants, three pieces of cannabis resin and three small bags of cannabis grass while searching his home.  Officers also found Lm1,345 but nothing that indicated drug trafficking.

Marmara was handed a seven-month prison sentence in 2017 despite telling the admitting to the courts that he cultivated the cannabis plant since he could no longer support his “very heavy use of the drug”.

Lawyers Franco Debono (who has led other drives to change cannabis laws), Marion Camilleri and Amadeus Cachia argued that their client had decided to kick the habit upon his arrest and had regularly tested clean for the drug on appeal.

Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera greed and upheld the conviction but deemed the prison sentence far too harsh and issued about a suspended sentence instead.

Others have not been so lucky, with several people found growing more than one plant being automatically jailed. Two cases in 2019– involving Marie Claire Camilleri and Slovakian nationals David Strba and Zdenko Klein – had kickstarted a debate over the issue.

In both cases, magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras and judge Consuelo Scerri Herrera said that their hands were tied by the law and had no choice but to jail the accused for six months, the minimum sentence for cannabis cultivation currently envisaged by law

Government has promised to act presenting legislation that would ensure those found guilty would no longer face jail time.

However, in Malta, the cultivation, consumption, and sharing of cannabis for personal use are still considered criminal offences.

While Malta had made tentative moves to relax its cannabis laws five years ago, little has changed since then. However, with the government releasing a message of support to Malta’s cannabis users on 4/20,  this could change soon.

Parliamentary Secretary for Reforms Rosianne Cutajar even said that Malta could use the local cannabis industry to provide jobs and a much-needed economic boost to beat a COVID-19 economic downturn.

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