While in Malta the political sector of the country is greatly engaged in the debate as to whether or not drugs should be decriminalised, it would be wise to propose the Church's view on the subject.

As we all know, if the Church simply ignores her golden input she would be betraying one of her main roles in the world, namely that of forming people's consciences. In order that this great ideal is lovingly realised, I shall be offering Pope Francis' teaching on the matter.

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Regarding Alison Bezzina's column entitled Let's talk about drugs (TMIS, 13 July), the global drug war is largely a war on cannabis, by far the most popular illicit drug. There is a big difference between condoning cannabis use and protecting children from drugs. Decriminalisation acknowledges the social reality of cannabis and frees users from the stigma of lifeshattering criminal records. What is really needed is a regulated market with age controls.

Separating the hard and soft drug markets is critical. As long as organised crime controls cannabis distribution, consumers will continue to come into contact with sellers of hard drugs like cocaine and heroin. This 'gateway' is a direct result of cannabis prohibition.

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Luckily, most of us don't do drugs. Unfortunately this makes us think that drug legislation has nothing to do with us. As a result very few seem to be concerned with what is being proposed in the new Drug Law reform. The truth is however, that we should all be very concerned about drug-related laws because somehow or another they will, and do, affect all of us - from users, to family members, from the state of our health systems, to the state of our justice system, from higher taxes to higher insurance premiums as a result of drug-related crimes; like it or not, in one way or another, we're all affected.

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Cultivation of Cannabis to Remain Illegal

White Paper on the decriminalisation of drugs suggests the introduction of medical use of marijuana and new ways how to tackle users who are caught with small amounts of the drug.

It would still be considered illegal, however, to grow the plant. In order to take cannabis for medical use, persons must have a recommendation from someone holding the rank of consultant. Medical marijuana refers to sprays or other medical items which contain marijuana, and not the kind smoked on the streets, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici explained.

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The government has already declared its intention to decriminalise substance abuse but up to now one cannot understand exactly to where the new drugs' policy is pointing: will it lead to a liberal progressive quasi legalisation of drugs for recreational purposes on the basis of a created civil right or will it lead to the humane system of depenalisation and rehabilitation, albeit still recognising that illicit drug consumption is not necessarily a desirable thing? The Prime Minister's declarations seem to lead to the former, while his Social Policy Minister seems to be at least emphasising the latter.

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Auxiliary Bishop Charles Scicluna has challenged the politicians to deny that the decriminalisation of drugs would help the drug barons.

Alternattiva Demokratika, which has consistently opposed the criminalisation of people who are in possession of drugs for their own use, would like to take up the challenge.

Portugal decriminalised the personal use of all drugs in 2001 and there has been no apocalypse. Far from that.

There was no significant increase in the use of drugs since 2001 (actually the increase was less than that of the EU average), drug related crime went down and so did related diseases.

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Former Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia argued in favour of using cannabis - specifically, synthetic derivatives of the drug - for medical purposes, insisting that its use could be beneficial to patients facing a number of health issues.

Dr Farrugia made his call during an adjournment speech yesterday evening. Seemingly aware of the possible controversy his argument may cause, the MP approached the topic cautiously, and made sure to point out that he was not, in any way, endorsing the recreational use of cannabis.

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Former health minister Godfrey Farrugia is adamant that he had every right to propose the medical use of non-smoked cannabis products or synthetic derivatives, despite Parliamentary Secretary Chris Fearne's insistence that such requests were not for politicians to make.

In comments made to The Malta Independent, the Zebbug family doctor confirmed that the government's parliamentary group had been informed of his intentions before he went public with his proposal in Monday's parliamentary sittings.

But Mr. Fearne's reaction, made in comments to the Times of Malta, was that the government would only consider such a proposal if a request was made by industry or a professional body, and insisted that it was not up to politicians to make such a request.

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While the government has repeatedly stated that it is considering some sort of drug decriminalisation, what it is not saying is which drugs it intends to address in the legislation it is drafting.

Contacted this week, Minister for Justice Owen Bonnici would not be drawn into the matter of whether the government intends decriminalising drugs across the board or whether it is considering only certain drugs for its decriminalised list.

In fact, all Dr Bonnici had to say on the matter was, "The relative White Paper will be issued in due course."

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The decriminalisation of drugs for personal use is inevitable if Malta is to continue following the UN's lead, an expert advising Parliament has told The Sunday Times of Malta. "The United Nations has started to shift towards the decriminalisation of drugs and Malta has always followed the UN's position on this issue," former director of the National Forensic Lab Mario Mifsud said.

Dr Mifsud said Maltese lawmakers were already moving towards a decriminalisation policy but would eventually be forced to make a choice by the international community. The UN has not yet taken an official stand on the issue but Dr Mifsud said it appeared to be moving towards a softer legal stance on the issue after a number of countries decriminalised drug use. The use of cannabis for personal use has been decriminalised in 16 US states, the most recent one being Colorado, and Washington state is expected to follow suit this year. Uruguay also recently decriminalised the drug.

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Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has hinted at reforming Malta's drug laws in a recent speech.

The logic behind making recreational drugs illegal can appear, at first glance, to be simple enough: Drugs are bad for one's health, and legal sanctions prevent people from harming themselves through their use.

But it is clear that tough legislation across the world has done little to deter people from using illegal drugs, and calls for an overhaul of drug policies are becoming increasingly vocal in recent years.

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