Next step is decriminalisaton of drugs - Muscat

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has declared that his government will be studying ways of how to treat drug users apprehended with small amounts of drugs and who are victims of drug abuse.

Muscat was holding a press conference the day after his government passed bill legalising civil unions, which will also allow same-sex couples to adopt children.

"The current system is failing us," Muscat said of the government's drug policy. "The system is failing our youths and is not giving us any results. This will be our next challenge," the prime minister said, hinting at a possible move towards descriminalisation of certain drugs.

The Cabinet will be discussing the issue of drug decriminalisation "with an open mind... to arrive at an informed decision", Muscat said.

Muscat accused Simon Busuttil of being politically weak in getting his parliamentary group to abstain on the vote that introduced civil unions, saying that his predecessor Lawrence Gonzi had - on the contrary - given his MPs a free vote.

"Simon Busuttil is politically weak. He washed his hands off the issue, like some Pontius Pilate, and had there been a free vote the Opposition would have been divided in three - it is a miserable position that the PN adopted. Gonzi's position back during the divorce issue was far more reasoned out... I had more respect for that decision because one knew where Gonzi stood."