The Police’s Drugs Squad has been making regular successes with its operations as of recently, capturing numerous large illegal consignments. These hauls have also succeeded a series of operations targeting local networks, dampening the local distribution of drugs.
The Drugs Squad, composed of around just 30 officers, has more time on its hands since prosecutorial work has been fully transferred to the Office of the Attorney General earlier this year. As the Drugs Squads spends less time in Court it will have more time for its investigations and to conduct its operations.
Meanwhile, Cannabis Clubs have mushroomed in Malta as a result of recent legislation with up to 750 people recorded to have registered with these clubs as of earlier this year. The number of people making use of these clubs is estimated to be much higher.
The government’s policy seems to be focused on clamping down on the illegal drugs market while slowly liberalising its laws on the consumption of soft drugs such as marihuana, effectively bringing drug users to a regulated market. This policy has however not been effective as intended due to the over-regulated cannabis clubs and the limits in production and distribution of cannabis making the economy of this regulated industry less competitive than a black market.
The government does not intend to decriminalise the consumption and distribution of cocaine which has increased exponentially during the last ten years, however it has amended drug laws to the amount of effective prison sentences handed out to suspects caught with a significant amount of drugs that is not intended for their personal use. The Nationalist Opposition is against these reforms.
Malta’s laws on illegal drugs are among the strictest in Western Europe, with the majority of the prison population incarcerated for drug-related offenses.
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