Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/199842
3 News maltatoday, SUNDAY, 27 OCTOBER 2013 Drug policy reform racked by internal dissent As protesters call for a revision of rug laws, a chasm has opened up between Justice Reform Commission and National Policy for Drug Reform over how to effect this reform AN ongoing drive to reform Malta's drug laws may have hit a snag, as the main entity entrusted with drawing up a new national drug policy is pursuing a markedly different direction from the one proposed by the Justice Reform Commission: headed by retired European court judge Giovanni Bonello, and supported by government's drug agency Sedqa. In its preliminary report, the Justice Reform Commission suggested 'depenalisation' of simple possession of soft drugs as marijuana: whereby simple possession will no longer be considered a criminal offence – though drug trafficking will remain a crime. A very similar proposal had been put forward in 2011 by Dr George Grech, clinical director of Sedqa, who called for Malta to follow the example of Portugal: where all drugs have been decriminalised, resulting in a sharp decline in problem drug use. The JRC's policy recommendations also chime in with the findings of the 2011 Global Commission on Drug Policy, authored by (among others) former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, former NATO secretary-general Javier Solana, and Virgin founder Richard Branson – which observed that "the global war on drugs has failed" and advocates "decriminalising drug use by those who do no harm to others". However, Malta's National Commission for Drug Policy Reform announced this week that decriminalisation will not be considered as an option. Instead, the Commission may propose setting up an entirely new structure in the form of a 'social tribunal' – complete with its own bureaucracy – for first-time offenders. According to this model, simple possession will remain a crime, and subsequent offences will be liable to criminal penalties, just as they are today. Dr Marilyn Clark, a University lecturer and chairperson of the National Commission, revealed the new policy plan in comments to the Times this week, but gave no explanation for the difference in opinion between the National Commission and all the other agencies involved. Nor is it clear from Clark's comments how the proposed model will differ from the existing scenario: in which first-time offenders are normally subject to a conditional discharge, and at most warning by the courts. Efforts to contact Dr Clark this week proved fruitless, and questions sent to the Commission were ignored. But Justice Minister Owen Bonnici, who has publicly expressed support for the JRC's decriminalisation proposal, played down the divergence of opinion between the various entities involved, stressing that "no decision has yet been taken" with regards to the drug policy reform. "Last month I was advised by Dr Giovanni Bonello to consider decriminalisation, and I am on record stating that I personally agree with this proposal. As far as I am aware Bonello is still of the same opinion, and the final report by the JRC is due at the end of November. Meanwhile I read the [National Commission's] proposals in the Times, and I don't think they are all that different from the JRC's proposals. But we are still in consultation stage. At the end of November the reports will be ready, and then it will be up to Cabinet to take a decision." Calls for reform intensify Meanwhile, as Malta's agencies and commissions involved in drug reform contradict each other in the background, calls for a more sensible approach to drug legislation have multiplied in the wake of the case of Daniel Holmes: a 40-year-old Welshman imprisoned for over 10 years and fined €23,000 for cultivation of five marijuana plants in 2006. Seven years later, Holmes still languishes in prison, facing a further nine years (it took five years for a verdict at first instance). Activists calling for his release point out how other convicted criminals are often given much lighter sentences, even for violent crimes such as rape, attempted murder and aggravated assault. A protest was held yesterday in Valletta calling for the immediate release of Daniel Holmes and an urgent revision of drug laws. Among the speakers was Daniel's wife Marzena Holmes, who argued that her husband had already long paid the penalty for his wrongdoing. AD candidate Robert Callus warned that the severe discrepancy in sentences meted by the Courts of Law also risked sapping public confidence in the justice system. It makes no sense, he said, that violent and dangerous criminals are treated with kid gloves, while people whose actions did not harm others are treated to much harsher penalties. Andre Callus, of Moviment Graffitti, urged the authorities to adopt a more compassionate and less draconian approach to drug use: questioning what sort of society we wanted to create for the benefit of our children. The event was also addressed by Ramon Casha, secretary of the Malta Humanist Association, who pointed out that the same substance for which Holmes was imprisoned also had medicinal uses, and that the criminalisation of cannabis users flies in the face of world scientific opinion on this issue. A final appeals court ruling in Holmes's case will be delivered this Thursday, 31 October. Moviment Graffitti's Andre Callus (left) urged the authorities to adopt a more compassionate stance towards drug use Marzena Holmes (pictured) argued that her husband had already long paid the penalty for his wrongdoing PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD RAPHAEL VASSALLO