Updated | Alternattiva Demokratika question drugs policy reform

In view of justice minister Owen Bonnici's recent declaration on decriminalization, Alternattive Demokratika (AD) Spokesperson for social affairs Robert Callus issued a statement saying that Bonnici’s words cause “nothing but confusion.”

The stament quotes Bonnici saying: “If we have to look into the small details of the law, then yes, it is still a criminal offence but that does not mean that we have not decriminalized simple posession.”

AD said the government should clarify whether drug possession is after all a criminal offence or not.

“The main bone of contention in this issue is whether the possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use can get that person arrested or not. According to the quote it seems that people can still be arrested for possession of petty amounts. There is not going to be a significant reform as promised. The same existent draconian laws will just be dressed differently," it said.

"Joseph Muscat’s promise that the decriminalization of drugs is the next reform his government will bring about is nothing else than playing about with words,” AD Chairperson Arnold Cassola, added.

He urged the Maltese government to follow serious models that have been used with success for many years, like the Portuguese model, which today has the backing of all the major parties in that country, rather than engage in empty rhetoric.

Contacted by MaltaToday, the justice minister said that, for all intents and purposes, simple possession of drugs has been decriminalised: "The law has however been drafted in such a way that the police retain the right to ask the person caught with simple possession from where he bought it."

Bonnici said that drug traffickers would be allowed to operate freely if the police do not retain such a right.