Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1462882
14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 NEWS JAMES DEBONO A European Commission sur- vey suggests that more than one in every five Maltese has tried cannabis at least once in their lifetime, including 7% who say they have used it in the previous year. The Eurobarometer survey shows that support for the le- galisation of recreational can- nabis in Malta is the second highest in the European Union. But a majority of Maltese re- spondents still think that can- nabis should only be available for medical reasons. The Europe-wide survey in- cluded 505 local interviews, showing that 30% of Maltese agree that cannabis should be allowed both for recreational use and medical use, while 61% want cannabis to be only al- lowed upon the presentation of a medical prescription. A fur- ther 4% of Maltese would also allow medical cannabis with- out the need of a prescription. Although the survey was published recently, the inter- views with respondents were conducted in July 2021 – five months before parliament pre- sented legislation which allows adults to grow four plants and to buy a maximum of 7.5 grams of cannabis from licensed growing 'clubs'. Consumption of cannabis in public places re- mains illegal. 60% favour regulating instead of banning cannabis But in an indication that the Maltese, like most Europeans, are moving from a prohibi- tionist outlook, when given a choice between banning and and "regulating" cannabis, 60% opted for the latter option, as do 62% of all respondents in the EU. But most of those fa- vouring regulation would like this to be limited to medical use. In contrast, only 18% of Mal- tese would favour "regulating" instead of banning cocaine use, as do 10% of all respondents in the EU. Across Europe, support for regulating instead of banning cannabis was strongest among younger respondents (67%), the tertiary-educated (66%) and those living in urban areas (66%). 30% favour legalisation The survey puts support for allowing the recreational use of cannabis at 30%, which is 6 points more than the percent- age who favoured the legalisa- tion of recreational cannabis in a MaltaToday survey conduct- ed in 2019. This could be an indication that support for legalisation grew in the last two years, marked by a more pronounced stance by the Labour Party in favour of regulating recrea- tional use of cannabis. Support for 'allowing' recrea- tional cannabis is highest in the Netherlands (41%), a country which for the past decades has practiced a policy of toleration by allowing the sale of canna- bis from licensed coffee shops. But even in the Netherlands 44% would restrict cannabis to those needing it for medical purposes. The second highest support for 'allowing' recreational use is found in Malta which has recently liberalised its drug laws; and in Germany, whose new coalition government also plans to permit the recreation- al use of the drug. Support for allowing recreational use was lowest in Scandinavian coun- tries like Finland and Sweden, and Eastern European coun- tries like Latvia, Bulgaria and Romania. Significantly, the Maltese are split on whether cannabis has negative health effects or not. 50% of Maltese think that can- nabis has few or no negative health effects. These include 17% who think that cannabis has no negative impacts. In contrast, 22% think that canna- bis has serious negative health effects while 23% think it has negative effects. 22% have used cannabis at least once The survey also asked re- spondents whether they have consumed cannabis in their life. While a MaltaToday sur- vey in 2019 showed that only 9% had tries cannabis once in their lifetime, the Eurobarom- eter gives substantially higher figures. While 7% of Maltese have consumed cannabis in the past 12 months, of which 3% have done so in the past month, 15% have consumed cannabis at least once in their life but not in the past year. This means that 22% of Mal- tese have tried the drug at least once in their life. But the vast majority (78%) said they had never consumed cannabis, 6 points higher than in the whole of the EU (72%). 43% of Maltese also think that obtaining cannabis within 24 hours of requesting it, is either 'very' or 'fairly easy' compared to only 25% who think that ob- taining cocaine is easy. 56% of respondents in all EU member states think that obtaining cannabis within 24 hours is easy. Cannabis is easiest to obtain in the Netherlands (76%); but in an indication that the vast majority would not try canna- bis even if this is legally avail- able, in the Netherlands where coffee shops are licensed to sell it, 63% say they have never con- sumed cannabis. The highest percentage of people who have tried cannabis (38%) is found in the Czech Re- public, where the drug is only partly decriminalised. jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt 22% of Maltese say they tried cannabis once in their life At 30% support for allowing recreational cannabis, Maltese support is second highest in all of the EU, but 61% would only allow medical cannabis The Europe-wide survey included 505 local interviews, showing that 30% of Maltese agree that cannabis should be allowed both for recreational use and medical use, while 61% want cannabis to be only allowed upon the presentation of a medical prescription Netherlands 41% Malta 30% Germany 30% Poland 29% Czechia 27% Slovenia 27% Luxembourg 24% Ireland 24% Belgium 23% Greece 23% Croatia 23% Italy 22% Austria 21% Spain 21% France 21% Denmark 19% Slovakia 18% Hungary 17% Cyprus 17% Lithuania 15% Portugal 14% Estonia 14% Finland 14% Sweden 13% Latvia 13% Bulgaria 12% Romania 9% Support for allowing both medical and recreational use of cannabis