Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1170309
25 OPINION regardless of her own private misgivings – for, mistake or no mistake, it is still a contractual government obligation towards the electorate – Julia Farrugia Portelli went on the suggest other ways the issue can be discussed instead: such as, by going back to the old 'harm reduction' model… which is in many ways the opposite of the 'legalisation' argument, as it presupposes – unjustly – that cannabis is as harmful a drug as others which may need to be regulated more. In any case, 'harm reduction' is also the same model the PN government used to hide be- hind when refusing to discuss any meaningful changes to Malta's drug laws for around 25 years. So, if we wanted another futile discussion on 'harm reduction', we would have voted for the party offering us that model… not the one which dangled a different, more progressive approach in front of our collective noses… only to then turn around and say: 'That? Oh, that was just a mistake. You didn't seriously expect us to keep that promise, did you…?' Erm… yes, actually, I did. Not only that; but I also expect an explanation for why some parts of the Labour government's 'progressive approach' regard- ing cannabis have indeed been implemented since 2017 – medical marijuana, for instance – but not this one. Let's see now: why would a government deliver on one promise that turns cannabis into a giant cash-crop for Malta – with international pharmaceutical companies now falling over themselves in the mad scramble to get a slice of Malta's multi-million-euro 'Magic Medical Marijuana Space-Cake' – but not on another promise, also involv- ing the same drug, but which doesn't automatically translate into hundreds of millions of overnight direct foreign invest- ment? Hmm… what a tough ques- tion… There is, however, a tougher one the Labour government may have to face. If Joseph Muscat really intended to deliver on that 'recreational cannabis' promise… why did he entrust the reform to someone with Julia Farrugia Portelli's widely-known aversion to can- nabis legalisation? Could it be because, that way, he knew from the outset that this reform would never stand a chance of seeing the light of day? Or was it just another 'mistake'? In the latter case, the mistake could very easily be rectified. Given that Julia Farrugia Por- telli has gone on record stating that she disagrees with any discussion about 'recreational cannabis'… the only way to ensure that this promise is ever kept is to remove it from her remit altogether, and entrust it to someone who really does be- lieve in the issue's Civil Rights dimension. Either way, however, more than two years have now elapsed since that promise was made; and still not a whisper or a squeak about any cor- responding change to Malta's drug laws. I don't know about you; but I call that 'fraud', myself. maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 SEPTEMBER 2019 Either way, however, more than two years have now elapsed since that promise was made; and still not a whisper or a squeak about any corresponding change to Malta's drug laws. I don't know about you; but I call that 'fraud', myself. Could it be because Joseph Muscat knew from the outset that this reform would never stand a chance of seeing the light of day? Or was it just another 'mistake'?