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MaltaToday 1 December 2021 MIDWEEK

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3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 1 DECEMBER 2021 NEWS LUKE VELLA HEALTH Minister Chris Fearne has disclosed in parliament that during the month of November, an "exotic animal" bit an individual, who suf- fered minor injuries. The individual was treated at Mater Dei Hospital but no further details were given. MaltaToday understands that the animal was a tiger resident in one of the zoos. Fearne was replying to a parlia- mentary question by Nationalist MP Mario Galea, an avid animal rights advocate, who asked wheth- er anybody had been treated at hospital after being bitten by a ti- ger. Galea has been vociferous against the captivity of exotic animals in Malta and earlier this month, per- sonally called for a boycott of zoos and urged government to intro- duce tougher rules for zoos. The police told MaltaToday last week that they received no formal report regarding an incident in- volving an exotic animal. In 2020, government proposed the prohibition of big-cat cub pet- ting at zoos in a White Paper, but relinquished it just 24 hours later following outrage by zookeeper and known Labour adherent An- ton Cutajar. Last week, Animal Rights Min- ister Anton Refalo confirmed that an impact assessment over amend- ments to the zoos regulations in Malta is being carried out and will be presented in the coming weeks. Individual treated for 'exotic animal' bite at Mater Dei Hospital this month An individual sustained minor injuries after being bitten by an exotic animal, believed to be a tiger CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The Bill now has to pass the Third Reading in parliament, which is a mere formality given government's majority, before being signed into law by the President. The cannabis authority During the discussion, Op- position MPs and NGO repre- sentatives, who were invited to contribute, questioned the pro- posed cannabis authority's role in carrying out an educational campaign on the responsible use of the substance. "It's contradictory to regular- ise a substance, but at the same time carry out an education- al campaign on it," PN health spokesperson Stephen Spiteri said. Nationalist MP Claudio Grech also questioned how the au- thority will be able to carry out educational campaigns. "How can we educate someone to take drugs responsibly?" he asked. He also voiced concern at how the Bill frames the reform as "the responsible use of canna- bis." "It's as if we are sending the message that there is a good way of consuming drugs," Grech said. Stephen Cachia from the Church Schools Associa- tion said the law needs to be strengthened from a regulatory standpoint. "We are not clear on the edu- cational campaigns – are they on the prevention or the re- sponsible use? We are fearing they will have conflicting argu- ments," he said. PN Health spokesperson Ste- phen Spiteri said the cannabis authority must include profes- sionals like psychologists and doctors. "We could have chosen to stop the authority at just a regulatory level, but we chose to go a step further and ensure the needed studies are carried out," the re- forms minister Owen Bonnici said replying to the concerns raised. "Yes, I find no issue with experts and doctors within the authority, for this legislation to be successful, we need to have a successful authority." NGOs raise concerns on in- crease in cannabis use Anthony Gatt from Caritas said certain clauses within the law will inadvertently lead to an increase in cannabis use. "The crucial point is will can- nabis use be reduced five or 10 years down the line? Let's pull the brakes on this law," Gatt said. During the discussion, Grech called on the minister to raise the age of people who will be allowed to purchase and be in possession of cannabis from 18 to 25. "All experts have called for the age to be raised." "If we do that, we will create a vacuum, and they will face the same consequences we are try- ing to eliminate," Bonnici re- plied. Andrew Bonello from the NGO ReLeaf welcomed a num- ber of aspects of the bill. "Our education system has al- ways been geared towards pre- vention. We are now taking a bold step towards harm reduc- tion. We are now looking at the realities of people who are mak- ing use of cannabis," he said. Cachia said the 250-metre limit from a cannabis club to a school needs to be increased to 1 kilometre. "This puts our children in danger, especially those in post-secondary insti- tutions." He also voiced his concern that residences overlooking schools will have cannabis plants which can be seen by students. Bonnici insisted that the law was clear in barring plants from being visible to the public. The minister also said the definition of cannabis has changed within legislation. The substance used to be referred to as 'Qaneb Indjan', and will now be changed to cannabis. "The definition has been changed, because we are ex- cluding from the definition of cannabis, products with less than 0.2% THC. You have creams, you have shampoos and other products. There is a European court sentence which states that products with less than 0.2 grams have to be allowed to be distributed free- ly," he said. When the issue of THC limits was raised by a number of rep- resentatives, the reforms minis- ter rebutted by saying that it will open the door for a "new black market", where drug dealers sell higher THC products. In his concluding statements, Grech said that he expected suggestions made by the Oppo- sition to be included. "I would have expected the Opposition to present con- crete amendments if it believes so much in its arguments," the minister rebutted. Minister Owen Bonnici, MPs Rosianne Cutajar, Ian Castaldi Paris and Jonathan Attard were representing the government on the committee, while MPs Claudette Baldachino, Claudio Grech and Stephen Spiteri rep- resented the opposition. Cannabis law now heading for Third Reading Health Minister Chris Fearne tells Parliament an individual was treated for minor injuries at hospital after being bitten by an 'exotic animal', believed to be a tiger

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