Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/852418
25 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 23 JULY 2017 Opinion the vast majority of alcohol consumers would simply never make (or even think about making) that transition. They only bought their liquor from unlicensed vendors because they had no other choice: the moment it became legally available over the counter at the closest bar... that's the last time they'd ever have to resort to the criminal underworld just to get a drink. I can't see how it could be any different in the case of marijuana today. Sure, some people who smoke might have other habits that would still need to be serviced by a drug-dealer... but give the vast majority a choice between buying from a dealer, and buying from a pharmacy down the road, and chances are they'll never meet a dealer again in their lives. How would that affect the drug trade? My guess is that the dealers would have to not only diversif y their range of products, but also their clientele. And this raises another anti-legalisation argument (not mentioned by Gatt, to be fair) to the effect that marijuana is a 'gateway drug' leading to other, more harmful habits. Again, I cannot contest that this might certainly be true for some people, and might continue to be true for others even after legalisation. But one thing is painstakingly clear: if marijuana is a 'gateway drug', it is partly due to the present legal status of the drug to begin with. With the law as it stands today, one can only acquire marijuana from the same people who are also only too eager to sell you heroin or cocaine instead. This is why it helps to occasionally look at the issue from a drug-dealer's perspective: as Anthony Gatt rightly notes, dealers have good reason to be unenthusiastic about the proposed reform. It may impact them financially, yes, (and let's face it: who the hell cares?)... but much more importantly, it might rob them of a steady annual harvest of customers who could, with a bit of patience and effort, be groomed into future heroin- or coke-addicts. So "taking a section of the cannabis business off the hands of the black market" – as Gatt put it – would also help sever the pathway connecting marijuana to other, much more harmful drugs. Ultimately, however, it remains a question of perspective. We have so far looked at this issue from the point of view of both the drug-dealer and the drug- buyer... we have asked whether legalisation would be 'harmful ' or ' beneficial '... but we have never really asked the same questions about the status quo. Has Malta's 'Prohibition' approach to cannabis been a success or a failure? I'd say it was about as successful as alcohol prohibition in 1920s USA. The only pity is that it hasn't inspired any great movies along the lines of 'Scarface'... yet. If marijuana is a 'gateway drug', it is partly due to the present legal status of the drug to begin with