On 26 June we celebrate Support Don’t Punish!

Karen Mamo, Drug policy researcher

The recently published European Union Drugs report reaffirmed that drug use across the EU remains highly prevalent and multifaceted.

To give a little glimpse of the numbers, when looking at last year use, over 8% used cannabis, whereas over 2% have used cocaine. The report underlines that the emergence of new psychoactive substances and increased availability of synthetic and semi-synthetic products continue to pose new challenges to national preventive and treatment services.

Examples include synthetic cannabinoids in e-liquids for vaping, new psychoactive substances mis-sold as opioid or stimulant powders and pills, and natural cannabis products combined with synthetic compounds. In 2025, 27 new cannabinoids were identified across the EU, out of which 16 were semi-synthetic cannabinoids, representing over 50% of the new substances first reported to the EU Early Warning System that year.

These figures require one loud and collective response: Harm reduction for all.

Irrespective if a person consumes a legal or an illegal substance, the right to access available, acceptable, accessible and good quality health services remains intact. Therefore, accessing overdose prevention tools, such as information related to the purity and analytical breakdown of chemicals prior to ingestion of a drug (drug checking), and hygienic equipment such as snorting kits, smoking pipes, and clean syringes, remain at the pinnacle of advancing effective tools to mitigate risks and save lives.

A holistic understanding and definition of harm reduction is important. Harm reduction in Malta remains stuck within the strict confines of addiction treatment via abstinence, and mostly catering for people addressing opioid dependence. This myopic interpretation, whereby only people choosing abstinence are afforded services, falls short from fulfilling the core purpose of advancing humane and people centred health policies and services.  

Looking at the origins of harm reduction, one finds a unique story of resilience and empowerment advanced by a group of marginalised people so easily targeted by society. Frequently portrayed by politicians, the medical class, and the media as the ‘scourge of society’, people who use drugs have frequently been categorised as deviant and chronically ‘hooked’ towards ill-health, criminal activity, and debauchery.

On the contrary, harm reduction recognises the validity and centrality of peers as active agents for change. Originating in the mid-1980’s in the UK, harm reduction is a peer-led movement (developed and implemented by people who use drugs for people who use drugs) addressing the human rights abuses levied by the War on Drugs. The spike in HIV cases and increased overdose cases, the stratospheric increase of incarcerations for simple possession and small scale trafficking, and the continuous proliferation of novel psychoactive substances which are stronger and more harmful to health are just few  of the ‘unintended negative consequences’ caused by failed international and national drug laws and policies.

Where is Malta standing?

The recent surge of HIV cases, and the low distribution of clean injecting equipment, are sadly clear signs of failure for our national prevention and treatment services Agenzija Sedqa and the National Addictions Advisory Board, acting as the main consultative body on national policy addressing drugs in society. One remains baffled that despite clear signs that drug use in Malta has continued to increase, with polydrug use and high risk use spreading across different groups, Malta remains without basic overdose prevention tools such as anonymous drug checking services and distribution of hygienic equipment for less risky consumption methods. This reality continues to expose thousands to unnecessary overdose risks whilst directly hinder the full realisation of the right to health for all.

Success policy reform stories from Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, Canada, Luxembourg and other countries highlight the inter-dependent relationship between evidence based policies, human rights, and long term change. Therefore, without losing our vision towards the end goal, that is, to leave no one behind, harm reduction tools call for transparency and accountability across prevention and treatment services, and equal representation for people who use drugs in decision making.