This morning’s ‘record’ drug bust of over 15 tonnes of cannabis resin according to MaltaToday left many feeling elated by the Customs Department and Police force’s work in catching a shipment of questionable product from Syria.

However, a number of people lamented the loss of what could have been potential revenue for the island, what with such a huge demand for cannabis locally.

One Maltese youth has gone so far as to highlight a figure that the Maltese government seems to be missing: just how much money the government lost in potential taxes in just one morning.

Using a conservative Dutch model, Jeremy Micallef shows how much money Malta could have made – and how much criminal kingpins are making instead

Simple – and conservative – mathematics show that 15 tonnes of cannabis means a profit of at least €150 million. With cannabis currently being illegal in Malta and thousands of Maltese cannabis users forced to turn to the black market to buy their product, that enormous financial figure would have gone straight to the criminal kingpins’ coffers.

Micallef also calculated the tax gains from the cannabis. With 18% tax thrown onto that number, the government could have raked in a cool €27 million from the sale of the cannabis if they had sold it in a legal and regulated manner, as is done in many US states.

“Can we get a move on and realise that this money could have been spent on the Education and Health sectors rather than a ‘record seizure’?” Micallef asked.

While authorities caught today’s shipment, there is no doubt that many more drug shipments have made it in, and many more – with considerably larger amounts – will be heading Malta’s way in the near future

With 15 tonnes of cannabis being brought in to deal with such high demand in Malta, even a low level economist would realise that, whether they like it or not, there’s a massive market for cannabis on the island.

And until Malta legalises cannabis, those millions of euros are going straight into criminal gangs’ pockets, instead of back into the country’s pockets.

Pictured above: How cannabis is brought into Malta vs how cannabis is brought into California, where it is legal and quality tested

What do you think of the current criminalisation of cannabis in Malta?

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Johnathan Cilia

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]