Young Labour Councillors Fully Back Recreational Cannabis Legalisation In Malta While PN Peers Remain Highly Critical
While Malta’s two largest political parties seemed to have agreed on the legalisation of medical cannabis, the legalisation of recreational cannabis is a whole different ball game… and the division goes all the way down to some of Malta’s youngest local councillors.
Lovin Malta reached out to six newly elected youth councillors, three from each major party, asking them how their new roles have affected their lives, as well as their opinions on certain policies.
And when it comes to recreational cannabis, the divide is real between PN and PL youth councillors.
The PN has taken a strong stance against legalisation and the party’s young councillors appear to be toeing the party line.
20-year-old Frederick Aquilina, who is a councillor in Ħal-Luqa, gave a short but adamant answer.
“In my opinion, I think marijuana should not be legalised under any circumstances whatsoever.”
Justine Palmier, 25, a councillor in Floriana, also made it clear that she is against legalisation stating that we should not be “risking [people’s] health and lives”.
While not giving a definitive yes or no answer, 25-year-old Siġġiewi councillor Francine Farrugia said that “further research and even experience should enhance this proposal with the right solutions”.
Conversely, Labour Youth Councillors were all in favour of legalisation and explained why
21-year-old Scott Camilleri, who is a councillor in Birżebbuġa, said that “when we discuss legalisation, we need to consider a set framework that will lead to a safer society”.
“We cannot have legalisation that will cause chaos, which will create the contrary to what is intended.”
17-year-old Carlos Zarb, who is a councillor in St. Paul’s Bay, argues that with legalisation “you are ending a lot of abuse which is done by the suppliers over the users”.
“It creates job opportunities and you can tax it, meaning the government can make an income on it,” he continued.
18-year-old Martina Grech, who is a councillor in Qomri, argued that “the black market will always remain there and personally I prefer knowing what people are smoking than buying off the black market”.
“Whether we want to or not, we cannot stop people from smoking marijuana. In Malta, it’s very difficult to control it without legalisation.”
Their responses indicate the deep partisan divide between Nationalist and Labour Party youths with regards to the legalisation of cannabis. However, as cannabis remains one of the most popular illicit drugs on the island and the topic of recreational cannabis begins to appear more and more often, this will potentially have a huge effect on the popularity of both parties among young people.
The next part of this series will be published shortly.