Drug law failing its purpose as undeserving people get jailed

Magistrate complains about the wording of the law
Times of Malta (Malta)
Monday, November 11, 2019

A “draconian” drug law in Malta has forced a magistrate to jail a 39-year-old woman for six months for cultivating six small cannabis plants for her personal use – because “it fails to distinguish between who deserves an effective jail term”. Due to the wording of the law, the woman would have benefited from a legal provision that would spare her a jail term – had she cultivated one large plant instead of six small ones with a total leaf weight of five grams. Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras said that the Drug Dependence Act, enacted in 2014, was originally intended to ensure that those found guilty of simple possession of small quantities of drugs were not jailed but fined. (See also: Flawed drug law - woman appeals jail term)