Drug reform | Judge calls on government to provide judiciary with tools

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A policy document on the proposed drug reform will be published and launched for discussion in the coming weeks, Social Solidarity Minister Michael Farrugia announced during a Raise the Bar consultation meeting.

Government is currently consulting stakeholders and civil society on the White Paper to reform the laws regulating drug abuse.

The picture painted about the current situation during the seminar was a bleak one. The current system isn’t working: the hands of the judiciary are tied, the law is out-dated in goal and its punishment is ineffective. Speakers also raised concerns on the excessive use of alcohol.

Under the proposed law on drug decriminalisation, drug users will no longer face a court sentence but instead appear in front of a justice commissioner and, if deemed necessary, a social board made up of experts.

An exception for cannabis users is being proposed, with the White Paper recommending that cannabis users, including repeat offenders, only appear in front of the commissioner.

Addressing the consultative seminar at the Old University’s building in Valletta, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said the fundamental principles of the White Paper included the emotional, psychological and social problems caused by drug abuse.

“The government is against legalising drugs but in favour of more flexibility in courts when handing down sentences, especially to first-time offenders,” Bonnici said.

Pointing out the flaws in the present system of classifying and prosecuting drug crimes, Attorney General Peter Grech said, “too many resources are taken up with cases of possession of small amounts of illegal substances”.

Simple possession of illegal substances is currently a criminal offence and this causes a massive bureaucratic load on the system.

“The amount of overtime and court hours, when assessed, is disproportionate to the usefulness of this approach” he said, adding that this must be weighed against the crimes’ negative repercussions to society.

Grech emphasised that a cookie-cutter approach to sentencing will not work.

A telling point was raised by Children’s Commissioner Helen D’Amato who added that minors can also be drug addicts: “We have no programs for children... we should not let children become hardened drug users.”

“[But] what are we going to do with drug users who are minors? We do not have a structure that can deal with this,” asked Judge Edwina Grima, citing a case where a young man could not be imprisoned and ended up in the short stay ward of the Gozo hospital.

Delivering possibly the most powerful message of the seminar, the judge – who has dealt with many drug cases in her judicial career – said judges do not have the tools to treat the problem, creating an obstacle to sentencing.

“It would be useless to sentence someone to six months imprisonment, and then find out that they would be only assessed for treatment halfway through the sentence”.

The White Paper does not address small time dealers who are dealing to substantiate their habit and who would be able to assist the judges in different criminal cases.

“Small time traffickers who sell to support a habit, should be given help, not sentenced to a minimum six months imprisonment and a finem” Grime insisted.

The judge added that the definition of trafficking by sharing was too narrow, applying to persons using drugs in the same place at the same time.

Grima has seen cases of people pooling in, handing the money to one person to purchase drugs for them who is then caught and charged with possession aggravated by amount.

Advocating the removal of references to this crime from criminal records, she clarified that the trafficking of drugs into prison is another problem – perpetrators are often the girlfriend or wife of the inmate and only do so “out of terror of him”.

Grima expressed her displeasure with cases of mothers jailed for bringing drugs into prison resulting in children being put under care orders. “This has only aggravated the problem” she remarked, before expressing her hope that the proposed drugs court will give the judiciary the tools they need.

Social solidarity Minister Michael Farrugia said the emphasis should be on prevention and education while adopting a holistic approach to aftercare: “Are families and employers prepared to take back individuals who have undergone treatment? Are drug users undergoing rehabilitation given skills and supports to avoid falling back into drug use?”

Among other interventions, the seminar was addressed by Xarabank presenter Peppi Azzopardi, Caritas director Mgr Victor Grech, Mgr Anton Gouder and lawyer Toni Abela.

Sedqa clinical director George Grech said he was embarrassed that Malta did not have a national policy on alcohol in place yet, as this had been shelved.

Reassuring the audience, Farrugia insisted alcoholism was “on the top of the agenda” and a national policy was in the pipeline. He however expressed reservations about the holistic aftercare currently being offered. In his words, this service was “not providing a return on investment”.

Grech went on to add that smoking marijuana was not the only way to administer tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), an active chemical in cannabis.

“The Mater Dei Hospital pain clinic is adequately equipped with alternatives and only one or two cases a year would require medical marijuana,” he added.

Mgr Grech insisted the White Paper shouldn’t be about differentiating between soft and hard drugs: “All drugs cause harm, a point which rehabilitated drug users all agree upon.”

The Caritas director also suggested that there should be a parallel programme for the victim’s next of kind, a support which Caritas has been offering for the past 30 years.

The Caritas aftercare program is currently optional, but Gouder recommended it becomes compulsory.

“The situation is a result of many years of denying the existence of a problem with our drug laws," opined lawyer Toni Abela. "We have turned away from the other approaches adopted abroad. A more liberal laws should not be feared as leading to a dissolution of values.”

Lauding the Scandinavian model, Abela said that in the war against drugs, everyone was a loser: “We should not go to the other extreme, but we should come out of our shell. Draconian laws have not helped the situation.”

He added that the system proposed by this law would give users a chance of reintegration into society.

Turning to alcoholism, Mgr Gouder cautioned that not every drinker was an alcoholic. He also went on to ask whether, in common perception, marijuana use would become socially acceptable, expressing concern that the amounts for personal use would eventually increase with tolerance.

“How will personal use be quantified?” Mgr Gouder asked.

Speaking about a recent report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), interpreted as being in favour of decriminalisation, Mgr Gouder explained that this should be seen in the light of HIV/AIDS prevention. According to MgrGouder, local drug laws are exaggerated, “made by politicians to protect themselves”.

The white paper is a step in the right direction “however, there must be a parallel program for next of kin, similar to the one Caritas has been offering for the past 30 years”.

The Caritas aftercare program is currently optional, but he recommended it become compulsory, because “the problems begin once reformed users re-enter society”.

A rehabilitated drug user, Martin Galea, said aftercare should be a life-long commitment. “I have been clean for 13 years but I am still in aftercare,” he said, adding that he wasn’t sent to prison for the first three times he was caught with possession. Eventually he was incarcerated “because to survive on the streets you have to do bad things”.

Galea explained how his court case took 10 years to be decided and, raising the issue of alcohol abuse, expressed his disapproval of how alcohol is still available to those in drug rehab.

The consultation period will remain open up till the 15th September, after which a bill will be presented in parliament.

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