Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1525500
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 18 AUGUST 2024 4 INTERVIEW Joey Reno Vella: 'Malta's harm- reduction approach to cannabis is working' ALMOST three years after Malta became the first European country to regularise the sale and possession of cannabis, regulatory chief Jo- ey Reno Vella feels the reform is working. "The country's harm reduction approach is working," Vella tells me. He chairs the Authority for the Responsible Use of Cannabis set up when cannabis was regularised. He says that while "the safest way to consume cannabis is not to consume it at all", policy mak- ers cannot ignore today's realities. "Before 2021, before the reform was enacted, you had a reality where studies showed a large section of the population used cannabis, but they had no regulated market from where they could buy it. The cannabis they bought was not culti- vated in a safe manner, and so posed more risks. They had to turn to the black market where they did not know what they were buying," he says. The situation is different today, he notes. "They now know from where the product came from, what it contains and know that it does not con- tain harmful substances like bacteria, heavy met- als and mould. The product will cause less harm and expose people to less risks." Vella says Malta now has eight associations spread across the island, with around 2,000 members registered. Six also have an in-princi- pal licence and are expected to start operating soon. He also says that no major breaches were regis- tered during regulatory checks, and associations were quick to comply with any infringements, highlighting their commitment to the principles on which the law is based. Questioned on whether Malta is looking to go further in commercialising cannabis, he says the authority is comfortable with the non-profit harm-reduction model and does not feel com- mercialisation makes sense. I ask Vella on reports related to increased con- sumption of cannabis in public areas despite this being illegal. The ARUC chairperson says the au- thority has no legal power to control such behav- iour but is looking at the possibility of providing "safe spaces" where cannabis users can smoke. Questioned on whether he believes the harm reduction approach principle should be applied to other banned substances like psychedelics, he says cannabis reform happened in a context where you had a different approach to marijua- na. He insists it is the legislator who eventually must make such decisions and not the authority. Vella also speaks on data related to hospital emergency admissions linked to cannabis, and how synthetic cannabis, a completely different substance, is leading to misconceptions about the effects of natural cannabis. "There is no correlation between drug-related emergencies and cannabis being distributed by the associations. It was for this reason that the reform was enacted, because before 2021, people did not know what they were buying," he says. On synthetic cannabis known as HHC, Vella says ARUC is aware of the problem surrounding the semi-synthetic substance and has been pro- active in addressing the issue. "The authority regulates the non-profit associ- ations, but HHC is being sold at commercial es- tablishments, and so they are not under ARUC's remit," he says. "The problem is two-fold: It could have negative effects on the individual, and packaging seems to target minors, but it also creates discrimination against the ARUC-regu- lated associations who have very tight regulation preventing them from advertising their prod- ucts. It also creates a twisted impression about cannabis culture which does not exist." ARUC Chairperson Joey Reno Vella sits down with Online Editor Karl Azzopardi to discuss Malta's cannabis reform, the possibility of introducing onsite consumption at associations, and whether the plant should be commercialised