Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1520224
7 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 MAY 2024 smoking… cannabis? of legal cannabis, other retailers that sell cannabis products with less than 0.2% THC – the psycho- active property of cannabis – do not have the same prohibitionary rules. While cannabis associations must have only discrete signage and dispense limited amounts to a registered clientele, 'head shops' selling cannabidiol (CBD) prod- ucts and edibles with ultra-low THC levels, as well as smoking aids like bongs and grinders, can display their wares openly, pro- moting them with the familiar cannabis leaf symbols and well- known motifs from the world of weed. This jarring contrast between cannabis associations and head shops sends mixed signals to that part of the public that is ambiv- alent towards cannabis smokers: the CBD shops promote a liberal- ism that is disallowed to the can- nabis associations dispensing le- gal weed. It's the apparent lack of enforcement on public cannabis smoking on beaches and parks or outside certain establishments, that leads to confusion and com- plaints such as those recently made by MPs. Malta legalised the recreational smoking and growing of canna- bis in 2021 with the creation of a new regulator – the Authority on the Responsible use of Can- nabis – which monitors cannabis associations selling home-grown cannabis to a limited number of members. The new law allows associa- tions to have up to 500 registered members and supply cannabis in a non-for-profit framework. Each member can be supplied with up to 7g daily, capped at 50g per month from the organisation. Individuals can carry up to 7g of cannabis on their person in pub- lic without the fear of sanction- ing. However, the use of cannabis in public is not permissible. The law also states that individ- uals can grow up to four plants of cannabis in their home and have up to 50g of dried produce in their residence at any given point. Such plants cannot be visible to third persons. With Malta's legalisation of weed came a drastic drop in drug-related arraignments, with 259 arraignments in 2017 drop- ping to 43 arraignments in 2022. Potency of cannabis in 2022 – re- ported at an average of 11% THC content for both resin and herbal cannabis – has seen a growing trend with legally-grown strains producing THC that can be as high as 20%. Cannabis no, nicotine yes What is it about the odour that jolts non-smokers, as well as to- bacco smokers, into moral objec- tions? By being banned in public, cannabis smell is itself redolent of something that is illicit and therefore objectionable. But still, less is said about equally illicit, dangerous yet tolerated practices such as drink driving. It's a difference that cannabis advocate Andrew Bonello, pres- ident of ReLeaf, says is impor- tant to highlight. "It is important to distinguish between what is morally offending the person and what is posing a health threat. Smelling cannabis will not pose a threat to health, but is only of- fending the person's moral be- liefs that cannabis is the 'devil's lettuce'." Bonello, who describes com- plaints by MPs on second-hand cannabis smoke effects as scare- mongering that have no scien- tific backing, says nicotine gets consumed everywhere. "Even our national hospital has designated smoking spaces… even in drug rehab centres such as Caritas, Oasi and Sedqa. So are we really trying to promote a more just and less harmful policy, or are we try- ing to create a new witch hunt for people who use cannabis." Tobacco smoking, legal in pub- lic designated spaces while still being harmful to public health, also remains tolerated in an age when cigarettes are common- ly frowned upon due to their health risks (and social cost on public healthcare). Some crit- ics of cannabis odours will also be found in this cohort. Vapes, marketed as odourless alterna- tives to tobacco, have also fallen foul of sensitive olfactory expec- tations. What is certainly key to any sort of odour is the prejudice that it elicits from the beholder and towards the emitter. In the Oscar-winning movie Parasite, odours and smells are key de- scriptors for the notion of the poverty of the Kim family. When he meets them, the five-year-old son of the wealthy Park family notices the 'smell of poverty' by exclaiming: "They smell exact- ly the same!". The inextricable 'stench' of poverty becomes a subtle demarcation for the class divide. So for cannabis smokers, the question is whether a practice that is now legal, prejudices their standing in society by being banned from the public sphere. After all, equally objectionable odours from cigarette and cigar smoking, are tolerated in public. Why should they be denied the same courtesy? ReLeaf has always called for designated smoking areas for people using cannabis, saying the law should not adopt discrimina- tory measures. "Funnily enough, even the ARUC's educational campaign focused on non-smok- ing in public spaces, instead of fo- cusing on more pressing matters for people who use cannabis such as the automatic expungement of criminal records and an exten- sion of the decriminalised mod- el," Bonello said. "We have never called for a free- for-all, but as an NGO founded on human rights we feel that a focus on an odour, instead of more pressing matters, such as construction-related deaths and the emergence of new mafias in Malta, is in part replicating the stigma the legislator tried to ad- dress back in 2021." Still, even in the face of scare- mongering critics, cannabis con- sumers might find the etiquette of respecting the boundaries of others sensitive to the aroma of cannabis could set a positive ex- ample of responsible use, and even help destigmatise cannabis by winning over a more under- standing society. Cannabis legalisation is still a relatively new concept – the complaints of MPs in the House about second-hand smoke cer- tainly reflect a public perception that wants to police liberal behav- iours. But as society evolves and gets accustomed to the benefits of cannabis, it will be 'cannabis etiquette' – simple, good man- ners – that could foster more re- spect for smokers. Claudette Buttigieg u Andrew Bonello