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Threshold 1:

The ‘personal use’ tier. You still get arrested but your punishment is an administrative, rather than a criminal one.

Standing at two ecstasy pills, 2g cocaine, and 2g heroin, it is not being amended courtesy of the latest reform.

You appear in front of the Commissioner for Justice, rather than a member of a judiciary, who can fine you between €75 and €125. If you are convicted for a second time, the Commissioner can also refer you to a Drug Offenders Rehabilitation Board.

The drug limits aren’t hard and fast though, and you can still be charged criminally if law enforcement suspects that you are actually trafficking – for example, if you split two ecstasy pills into four half-pills.

Threshold 2:

You are charged criminally in front of the lower courts, where a magistrate can sentence you to imprisonment of up to 12 years.

The Attorney General’s Office has the power to decide how to charge you depending on the circumstances of the case, but a possession schedule exists to serve as a guideline.

As it stands, the guidelines state that cases involving possession of up to 300g of cannabis, 300 ecstasy pills, and 100g heroin or cocaine should be sent to the magistrates’ courts.

Ever since 2015, magistrates have had the power to convert their courts into a Drugs Court, which means they can order suspects to take part in a rehabilitation programme of up to 18 months. If the rehabilitation is successful, the suspect can avoid imprisonment, but if it proves unsuccessful they will return to court and face a regular procedure that could end in jail time.

However, magistrates can only convert their courts into a Drugs Court if they are convinced the suspect is a genuine drug user who only engaged in trafficking to sustain their habit.

This process will remain identical but the reform is proposing that the possession levels in the guidelines increase to 500g of cannabis, 500 ecstasy pills, and 200g of heroin or cocaine.

People who are believed to be trafficking drugs for financial profit – as opposed to sustaining their own drug habit – will still be charged criminally.

Threshold 3:

The most severe outcome, in that you are charged in front of the Superior Courts and faced with a trial by jury, with a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.

Malta is one of the only European countries with a potential life imprisonment sentence for drug trafficking, although it is never imposed in practice.

However, drug trafficking cases are clogging up Malta’s jury system; a recent TVM analysis found that more than half of the 110 pending trials before Malta’s courts are related to trafficking. This means that some trials of serious cases, including murders, are delayed.

This process will be tweaked to allow the accused to opt to be tried by a judge instead of by a jury, similar to cases of rape and sexual crimes. However, the punishments – including the maximum life imprisonment sentence – will remain as they are.

Jonathan Attard warned it is an unfortunate and longstanding reality that some drug addicts resort to crime, including trafficking, to sustain their habit.

“If these people are within the parameters of the law and the schedule attached to it, they can qualify for a situation whereby the courts can recommend their rehabilitation and process their cases differently than those who engaged in trafficking purely for financial reasons,” he said.

“I think Malta made a very important step in 2015 when it started treating drug victims and traffickers differently. We are strengthening what we had the courage to carry out eight years, and we’re certainly not widening the parameters of personal use.”

What do you make of the proposed reform?