Malta legalizes the cultivation and use of cannabis for recreational purposes

The Maltese House of Representatives today legalized the cultivation and use of cannabis for recreational purposes thanks to the votes of the ruling Labor Party, becoming the first country in the European Union (EU) to do so.

The promoter of the bill, Owen Bonnici, parliamentarian and current Minister of Equality, Research and Innovation, celebrated this fact: “We are the ones who create change,” he applauded in his networks.

The law was approved in its third reading with 36 votes from Prime Minister Robert Abela’s Labor Party and 27 against the conservative opposition, the Nationalist Party, according to local media.

The legislation must now be ratified by the President of the Maltese Republic, George Vella, a doctor by profession, although its signature is considered only a formality.

The small island state of Malta, which has allowed the use of cannabis for medical purposes since 2018, is thus endowed with a pioneering law in the EU, since it legalizes the use, cultivation and possession of cannabis within certain limits for recreational purposes.

The text provides that those of legal age, 18 years of age, may possess up to 7 grams of cannabis and its psychoactive derivatives, such as hashish, and may cultivate up to four plants, keeping up to fifty grams of the leaf of this plant at home. .

In addition, anyone who is found with an amount between 7 and 28 grams of cannabis will not face criminal cases, but only a fine that will range between 50 and 100 euros.

However, in Malta you will not be able to consume cannabis in public, as long as it is not for medical reasons, and whoever does so will be fined 235 euros, an amount that may increase to 500 euros if it is done in front of minors.

Cannabis may be consumed in private homes or in premises covered by this law that will function as private non-profit associations, which will also be the only establishments that will be able to sell this drug.

These associations, which may not exceed five hundred members and will be managed by people of proven “good conduct”, may not advertise their activities and may not have their headquarters at a distance less than 250 meters from a school or youth center.

The Government and the Labor Party have met with fierce opposition from Catholic associations, which foresee a negative impact on society and a “normalization of drugs.

The archdiocese of Malta published a statement yesterday warning that the legislation on recreational cannabis “is not progressive” and will be “harmful” for society, he said, using the opinion of psychiatrist Aloisa Camillieri.

That is why the Catholic Church, together with 57 organizations and pressure groups, had demanded that Parliament stop the processing of this law, without success.