Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1372546
3 LETTERS & EDITORIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 16 MAY 2021 Mikiel Galea Letters & Clarifications No moral justice on cannabis relaxation The said White Paper does not, in any way, protect anyone, but only the few and the government at large to collect further taxes. The limit proposed is far too big for personal consumption, and the gov- ernment proposing the said amendments does not have the moral justice to address any. We have laws against drunk driving, but we are not addressing in any way driving under influence of cannabis and what checks will there be. We are also far from addressing the problem in domestic abuse. Such cases will treble with persons abusing under the influence. So we do not want the new generation to smoke cigarettes, because God knows how much was spent for education against smoking; and we also teach them against the abuse in alcohol, and we are also pushing for a higher percentage in education. Can someone tell me how youths getting high is beneficial for their education? Is it beneficial to smoke now? Daniel Galea Independent living for disabled The Malta Federation of Organisa- tions Persons with Disability (MFOPD) joins the European Network on Inde- pendent Living (ENIL) and all member organisations in the celebrations of the important European day for independ- ent living, celebrated 5 May. This is an occasion to highlight the right to independent living for all per- sons with disability. Personal assistance is the key to 'living independently and being included in the community' for persons with disability as otherwise there would be no future to look for- ward to. In ENIL's words, Independent Living is the daily demonstration of human rights-based disability policies. Independent Living is possible through the combination of various environ- mental and individual factors that allow disabled people to have control over their own lives. This includes the op- portunity to make choices and decisions regarding where to live, with whom to live and how to live. Services must be accessible to all and provided on the basis of equal opportunity, allowing disabled people flexibility in our daily life. Independent Living requires that the built environment and transport are accessible, that there is availability of technical aids, access to personal assistance and/or community-based services. It is necessary to point out that Independent Living is for all disabled persons, regardless of the level of their support needs. The key principles of Independent Living are: choice, control, freedom, equality. "Living independently" does not mean that disabled people have to be independent in the sense of living a highly individualised and self-sufficient life, at a distance from other people. It is, rather, based on a social model of disability, which recognises that people are not limited in their choices because of any inherent feature or condition of the person themselves, but by the social and physical environment in which they live. In enabling environments, things are not done to a person, but rather disabled people are supported, just like anyone else, to make independent and autonomous, and when needed, sup- ported decisions. Article 19 of UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities rec- ognises "the equal right of all persons with disabilities to live in the commu- nity, with choices equal to others", and requires that States take "effective and appropriate measures to facilitate full enjoyment by persons with disabilities of this right and their full inclusion and participation in the community". Article 19 does not differentiate between people with different impair- ments and applies equally to all disabled people. This means that everyone should have the right to live independently, regardless of the "severity" of their im- pairment, their age, gender, ethnicity, material status or any other characteris- tic. The Malta Federation of Organisa- tions Persons with Disability (MFOPD) is the national umbrella organisation for the disability sector. It is the voice of, approximately, 37,000 persons with disability in the Maltese islands. It has 33 enrolled member organisations all working with- in the disability sector. Marthese Mugliette President, MFOPD