Caritas hopes new authority will put brakes on increased cannabis use

The Church’s social welfare agency Caritas has called upon the newly-appointed authority for the responsible use of cannabis, to resist any push for further liberalisation.

The new authority, headed by a former Caritas worker and pyschotherapist Mariella Dimech, will be regulating Malta’s fledgling cannabis clubs, which will be growing and dispensing legally-grown cannabis. The authority also includes former national anti-drugs agency Sedqa director, Sina Bugeja.

“We trust that the authority will be proposing even more controls as those proposed by Caritas, in the eventuality that cannabis use increases. We also hope mental services are strengthened in the light of an increasing number of patient intakes due to cannabis use,” Caritas said in a statement.

Caritas has been an opponent of the government’s drive to legalise the recreational use of cannabis, which includes legalising non-profit growing clubs that will dispense limited amounts of cannabis to registered members.

Caritas said the authority’s board included people who, like Dimech, were of respectable reputation and experience in the field of pscyhological care for drug patients.

It clarified that despite Dimech’s past employment with the agency, Caritas was neither represented on the board nor was it seeing representation on the board.

“We offer services to people caught up in a web of substance dependence, cannabis included, so the agency cannot countenance such a conflict of interest. We have expressed our stand clearly that the concept of ‘responsible cannabis use’ can be misunderstood, especially by minors who think cannabis is something that can be used liberally when they grow up.

“As a society we must do all we can to limit cannabis use, and even reduce demand for cannabis, even if not every adult develops dependence or serious consequence from using cannabis.”