There were a few mentions in the news with regards to the cannabis reform bill this week. We’re here to bring you the latest updates.
There has been some good news for the cannabis community this week! The long-awaited bill to reform the island’s cannabis laws is set to be published in October, after the Parliament reconvenes. This was confirmed by the Reforms Minister Owen Bonnici.
Claiming that the legislation is at the top of his priority, Bonnici has held meetings with stakeholders about the situation, and while the discussions are not yet closed, he intends to publish the Bill at his earliest convenience.
What to Expect in the Cannabis Reform Bill?
The bill will be the upshot of the white paper that the Prime Minister of Malta, Robert Abela, issued last March. The white paper included the termination of jail time, prosecution, and stigmatisation of cannabis users in Malta.
In summary, the white paper proposed that people in Malta should be allowed to grow up to four plants at home. In addition, users found in possession of up to 7g of cannabis will no longer be arrested or prosecuted.
For more information about what the white paper included, read our article here.
Destroying Stigmatisation
Rosianne Cutajar, Labour MP, claims that she is looking forward to the upcoming debate on cannabis reform as she believes that the bill should be one that aids people and not one that destroys them. Cutajar has spoken about the stigmatisation of cannabis users multiple times before.
Cutajar claims that a lot has been done in recent months ‘to ensure our proposals reflect and address what we were told in the public consultation. The law should help people and not destroy and must be guided by a sense of justice, progress, and responsibility’.
Free of Partisan Politics
Former PN councillor Alan Abela-Wadge has urged politicians to keep the cannabis debate free of partisan politics. Abela-Wadge is known to be in favour of progressive politics, and he endorsed the proposed cannabis reform with open arms. He also rejected concerns that this bill will lead to a rise in usage among youths.
He claims that ‘reforming cannabis usage in Malta will not introduce cannabis to our teens, it’s here already. It will control and reform it in a way that it’s a cleaner, controlled and less dangerous product’.
The Grand Reveal
This is literally, fresh off the press! A few days after Opposition leader, Bernard Grech, stated that the bill should tackle how people can purchase cannabis through legal means, Prime Minister Robert Abela, on the 1st of September, has finally given us the answer, or rather, a glimpse of hope.
Robert Abela confirmed that the upcoming cannabis reform law will allow people to buy the plant legally. During a press conference, Abela claimed that they have been ‘actively discussing the finalisation of the bill that will be sent to Cabinet for its final approval before being published in Parliament’.
He claims that one of the points that should be addressed is where people will be buying cannabis plants from.
‘We still need to reach a final decision, but in principle I believe we shouldn’t create a legal basis that incentivises people to resort to the black market. Doing so would go against the spirit of the law’.
So, there you have it. It’s still not a definite answer on where we are going to buy our weed plants from, but we have been reassured that there will be a concrete legal outlet!
That’s all folks! We’re eagerly waiting for more news to come. Until the next update, keep checking our blog for more weed-related content!