Malta will become the first European country to allow the limited cultivation and possession of cannabis for personal use, as lawmakers are expected to approve the law later in the day.
Similar plans were announced by Luxembourg in October, but its parliament has not yet given the green light for the measure, while cannabis possession and cultivation is tolerated in Spain and the Netherlands.
Adults in Malta will be allowed to own up to seven grams of cannabis and grow up to four cannabis plants for personal use under legislation passed by Prime Minister Robert Abella’s Labor Party.
“We are legislating to manage a problem and to adopt a less harmful approach by regulating the sector so that citizens do not have to resort to the black market to buy cannabis,” the prime minister said during a parliamentary session last month.
He said he wanted to maintain a strict line against traffickers, but to save parents from the “traumatic experience” of arresting their child and appearing in court for a cannabis cigarette.
“We are preventing people from smoking cannabis, and we are not dealing with those who choose to do so as criminals. Drug trafficking will remain illegal,” he said.
The use of cannabis in public places will remain illegal and anyone arrested for using cannabis in front of a child will be fined between 300 and 500 euros.
The law will also reduce the severity of the penalties for those arrested with higher amounts of cannabis.
The passage of the law was hastened in the wake of strong criticism from the center-right opposition, medical associations and the Church, who have expressed outrage that their proposals for a weakened law have been ignored.
The main opposition party, the Nationalist Party, has voiced opposition to the bill, warning it would increase drug use in the country, but does not have enough votes to block the bill.
Malta is often considered socially conservative but has already decriminalized the possession of small quantities of cannabis by passing legislation that promotes the island as a potential hub for marijuana production for medical and research purposes.
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Source From: Capital
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