Updated | Parliament approves law regulating manufacture of medicinal cannabis products

Parliament this evening voted in favour of the Production of Cannabis for Medicinal Use Act, paving the way for authorities to issue licenses to medicinal cannabis operators looking to set up shop in Malta.

Speaking on behalf of the Opposition, Nationalist MP Claudio Grech said the Opposition would be voting against the bill’s third reading since no assurances had been given regarding the industrial cultivation of the plant.

Moreover, Grech said that the government had said that it signed letters of intent with a number of medicinal cannabis companies, before parliament had approved the law regulating their operations.

In statement issued on Saturday, the PN demanded an explanation from the government after it was reported that the company MXC had announced that it had been granted approval by the government for a full medicinal cannabis production and cultivation facility.  

In a reaction, Partit Demokratiku said that the vote was taken without a division having been called.

“Whilst the Nationalist Party has spoken against this bill, the Opposition members of the Partit Demokratiku have spoken in favour of this bill since the procedures to be followed will keep to the strictest international standards to produce GMP,” the party said.  

It added that serious and established international operators had expressed interest in setting up in Malta, and that such opportunities present “a healthy diversification of the economy with a positive contribution to Malta’s GDP”.