Grech won’t support cannabis bill that is all about legalisation, and not decriminalisation

PN leader Bernard Grech: ‘We consulted with experts and psychiatrists, they spoke about the perils of the drug, especially with young people. We need to protect young people from excessive risk’

Opposition and PN leader Bernard Grech (Photo: PN)
Opposition and PN leader Bernard Grech (Photo: PN)

Opposition leader Bernard Grech has reiterated his party’s stance that the government’s planned legalisation of recreational cannabis will normalise drug abuse, and was not a law aimed at decriminalisation.

On Friday, the Nationalist Party issued its official stance on the cannabis legalisation bill, warning that it will normalise drug abuse in Malta and Gozo. The Labour government proposed legalisation that allows regulated associations and home growing of cannabis plants.

“The government wanted us to have a position on the matter but we wanted to listen. We don’t want to send a message that drug use is a normality," Grech said.

He said that the PN had accepted that criminalisation of cannabis users had to be eliminated and that the party had already agreed on it unanimously in Parliament.

Grech said that the PN consulted with experts and psychiatrists, who he said spoke about the perils of the drug, especially with young people. “We need to protect young people and shelter them from difficulties and excessive risks.”

With regards to former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and the €60,000 he allegedly received from a Swiss firm linked to Steward Healthcare, Grech said: “It is not acceptable that once one is out of politics, they do not answer for their actions.”

He called on the Police Commissioner to follow up on the case case and be transparent about such allegations.

Grech also criticised infrastructural projects which he said had proven to be ill-equipped against floods, as seen from the recent storm, and which were still leading to excessive traffic. He said that the PN will keep analysing the matter and will be proposing measures to address such problems.