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Matthew Vella
Reports compiled by the Drug Forum representatives who met with former President Guido de Marco to discuss amendments to the drug laws, have revealed an extensive plethora of arguments on the need to address amendments to the drug laws, the definition of sharing and trafficking, and of most concern, an admission that the so-called “war on drugs” is being lost.
A report compiled by Police Commissioner John Rizzo and Assistant Commissioner Paul Debattista states that the deterrent aspect of drug has been found to be “not very effective”, with preventive policies not as fruitful as expected and treatment services failing to reach abusers at early stages of abuse: “It is quite evident that what we have been doing so are has not achieved the goal of reducing or at least containing the drug problem,” the report states.
The parliamentary social affairs committee is currently discussing possible amendments to the drug laws, a move particularly championed by Home Affairs and Justice Minister Tonio Borg, who believes a difference in the definition between sharing drugs and trafficking should be established.
In the first of the committee meetings, Borg’s rationale was spelt out clearly: “What are we gaining from a law which throws people into prison for the fun of it? We have to be brave and says that in certain cases, if you are a first-time user, still young and in possession of small amounts [of drugs], this law does not apply… We have to pay attention because it is true that drug offences are serious offences, but there are far more serious offences in the criminal code.”
Tonio Borg first told MaltaToday in an interview that it was unacceptable that “someone who is not a drug trafficker is accused of being one simply because he shared drugs with his girlfriend. I am not in favour of decriminalisation since after all this remains a criminal offence. But should there be a mandatory sentence of imprisonment? I believe it should remain at the discretion of the Court, in these relatively small cases.”
Anyone found in the possession of drugs is liable to a prison sentence of anything between six months to twenty years. Borg has made it clear that there is no distinction between traffickers and drug victims, and that although the judiciary is discretionary in its sentencing, they have no choice but to order a minimum six-month sentence for the smallest amount of drug sharing.
“In practice, good behaviour will mean a four-month imprisonment. But we are still talking about four months, and it could be a girl of sixteen years old,” Borg told MPs in the social affairs committee.
For two years however Borg was adamant not to “fight this battle alone”, and waited for the outcome of a collection of reports from the President’s Drug Forum, set up by Guido de Marco, who hosted drug agencies and the Police force to debate amendments to the drug laws.
The first of the discussions within the social affairs committee has however failed to focus on one area of real concern, namely the spate of overdose deaths at the start of 2004 which revealed the extent with which the law on drug trafficking was negatively affecting the chances of survival for OD victims.
Users were refusing to accompany an overdose victims into hospital for fear they would be incriminated as traffickers for having shared drugs with them. The debate on changing the law concerning trafficking intensified following the death of a 20-year-old woman who was dumped out of a car in front of St Luke’s Hospital at two in the morning on February 3.
“It should be an absolute priority that a person feels they can seek help without fear of incriminating themselves. This is being recommended in order to save lives,” the report by the Probation Services states.
Caritas has also underlined the need for the amendment: “There is a need for a more clear definition of drug possession and what constitutes trafficking. Two or more who are sharing a chemical substance in small amounts should not be considered traffickers... persons who present with someone who undergoes an accidental overdose should not be charged on a possession or trafficking offence. This way, they can freely and without fear, offer all necessary help for who is overdosing.”
The Police however disagree with any re-defining of the term ‘trafficking’, which also includes sharing, which it termed the baptism of drug abuse. It has refused the argument that users are reluctant to seek assistance for fellow users experiencing an overdose for fear of prosecution, and prefer seeing a reduction in punishment if users prove they did all in their power to assist the victim:
“…we believe [trafficking] should continue to include all forms of supply or procurement or facilitating of these actions… our law allows a very wide margin between the minimum and the maximum punishments for drug trafficking and the Courts have always exercised their discretion in the appropriate manner and according to the circumstances.”
Tonio Borg’s statements throughout the committee discussions revealed a concern for what he called the ‘right-wing pressures’ on politicians. “In matters of illegal immigration and drugs the general opinion has a certain right-wing tendency,” he boldly claims, “even because it is not informed sufficiently. But we politicians must not be too cut off from public opinion… but we also have the role to direct public opinion and not dominate it.”
In fact, despite the Home Affairs Minister’s cautious approach in getting the amendment to an expedite resolution, it is Borg himself who shows a better grasp of the matter at stake, his argument at times ending up prey to other MPs in the committee who conjure up clichéd and anecdotal knowledge on drugs and pay lip service to the so-called ‘war on drugs’, often drifting the discussion away to wider issues related to drug reform and care.
Discussion focused on the need to define the term sharing without offering loopholes for major traffickers to take advantage of the changes in drug laws, an argument put forward by Opposition spokesperson for home affairs Gavin Gulia. Other MPs broached the subject of arrest referral schemes and other reforms in the strategy to combat drug abuse.
But Borg’s prudent tactic at achieving consensus has already stretched the discussion process over two years. Already in the social affairs committee, he has striven to keep the debate as focused as possible on the unjust imprisoning of young, first-time offenders:
“I think we are entering a labyrinth if we are to discuss everything relating to the drug problem… we all have experiences of somebody who could have not been taken up to Court, but the way the law is still send somebody to prison who does not deserve it.”
matthew@newsworksltd.com
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