“For some years, there was the possibility to regulate and keep it in the hands of those who aren’t crime-related,” said Óscar Parés, deputy director of the Barcelona-based ICEERS, speaking of past e ...
The Authority for the Responsible Use of Cannabis (ARUC) will be organising the first training on harm reduction for those Associations which have reached an advanced stage of application to form a ' ...
A leading drugs policy expert believes members of Malta’s planned cannabis associations should be allowed to consume cannabis on site rather than being restricted to only doing so at home. “It was an ...
Cannabis associations in Malta could be up and running by the end of March 2024, sources familiar with the matter have told MaltaToday. In June, it was revealed that 26 groups had applied for cannabi ...
The not-for-profit model adopted by Malta for drug policy reform is resonating across other countries. The emphasis on a harm reduction approach, including considerations for social justice and the n ...
European countries that are widening their cannabis policies should invest in monitoring and evaluation to understand the impact on public health and safety, according to the European Drug Report for ...
The cannabis authority in Malta has been assured that local banks will not turn down potential cannabis clubs on the grounds that they are selling marijuana, after the associations raised concerns th ...
The cannabis authority has received 26 applications from potential cannabis clubs requesting a licence to sell home-grown marijuana, according to Leonid McKay who heads the Authority for the Responsi ...
What forms of cannabis regulation are under consideration in Europe? What types of cannabis are controlled? Are cosmetic and wellness products containing cannabis legal? These are among the questions ...
Malta’s laws for the sale of recreational cannabis could likely make room for large players seeking to corner the market, with the prospect of cannabis retailer ‘chains’. Malta’s not-for-profit model ...
Cannabis associations that sell to non-members or minors will face fines of up to €10,000, with the associations also required to cough up money for harm reduction and community projects. A newly-pub ...
The authorities are having talks with a leading bank with a view that it could offer services to non-profit organisations running cannabis associations, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri told par ...
Salaries paid out by cannabis associations will have to be approved by the regulator to ensure they are in line with market rates, ARUC boss Leonid McKay has said. The Authority for the Responsible U ...
The Authority for the Responsible Use of Cannabis recently held a conference where it outlined the rules for social clubs and the sale of home-grown cannabis in Malta. The conference signalled the au ...
Cannabis clubs - dubbed Cannabis Harm Reduction Associations - can apply to sell home-grown marijuana from next month but must abide by a list of regulations outlined on Friday. The associations are ...
Malta won’t see a bill that introduces a path to clearing simple drug convictions from people’s criminal records until sometime next year. A spokesperson for the ministry of equality and reforms said ...
Established medical cannabis companies could be looking to set their foot in Malta’s flegdling recreational cannabis market, according to sources. Releaf, the NGO that led the campaign to legalise re ...
Psychotherapist Mariella Dimech has been sacked from her position as executive chairperson of the new cannabis authority on the responsible use of cannabis. Dimech said she was informed by the Home A ...
Reforms parliamentary secretary Rebecca Buttigieg has refused to give a detailed timeline on when cannabis associations will start operating. “This is a complex sector and I am interested in doing th ...
New rules on cannabis use came into force in Malta in December after parliament approved a new law aimed at further decriminalising the substance. The new law allows for the creation of cannabis asso ...
In 2018, Malta became one of the first European countries to fully decriminalise cannabis for medicinal purposes; followed up by a broader reform to (within limits) decriminalise the drug for recreat ...
On Friday 15 July, representatives from Germany, the Netherlands, and Malta met at Senningen Castle and agreed that they want to switch to a different drug policy. The failure of the repressive appro ...
Two NGOs have proposed that cannabis associations should be “safe spaces” where members have a “true interest and passion” in the substance, and where they could share best practices and seek advice ...
Malta has been rocked by the arrest of a local doctor, Andrew Agius, for distributing cannabis mere months after the island became the first in Europe to legalise the drug. Agius, 43, was arrested on ...
The reform enacted by the Maltese government in 2021 Act No. LXVI to establish the Authority on the Responsible Use of Cannabis and to amend various laws relating to certain cannabis activities, incl ...
Malta’s new cannabis rules should serve as a model for other European states of how to end the unnecessary prosecution of low-level drug users and strike a blow against organised crime, according to ...
Psychotherapist Mariella Dimech has been appointed the first executive chair of the Authority on the Responsible Use of Cannabis. She tells how she plans to stifle the black market and raise awarenes ...
A bill to allow recreational cannabis use has been signed by President George Vella and is now part of Maltese law. Legal Notice 478 notes that the Authority on the Responsible Use of Cannabis Act ha ...
Parliament approved a cannabis law that will allow users to carry, buy and grow amounts of the drug, making Malta the first European country to introduce laws to regulate recreational cannabis use. M ...
“The transatlantic winds of change that have been blowing in the Americas for a while have now reached the shores in Europe,” Tom Blickman of the Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute told a webina ...
A controversial new law on cannabis use will have to wait another week to be approved in parliament, after the opposition requested that MPs be called to vote individually on the matter. The proposed ...
The European Union is currently a hotchpotch of different approaches to cannabis use, ranging from complete prohibition to different levels of decriminalisation and tolerance. Even in liberal enclave ...
The cannabis reform bill in Malta is one step away from being passed in parliament after it cleared committee stage. In a four-hour-long sitting MPs discussed the individual clauses and approved mino ...
It is ironic, but if Malta does end up legalising recreational cannabis, one quiet man from Wales may be the one to thank for it. Prior to 2011, there were passionate activists fighting for better ca ...
It’s looking ever more likely that Malta will pass a landmark cannabis reform bill into law. The bill passed its second reading (the debate stage) in Parliament, with all government MPs voting in fav ...
Malta will soon allow people to purchase weed from “cannabis associations”, an exciting step forward for the country’s long-suffering cannabis communities. However, don’t expect these associations to ...
Under proposed cannabis legalisation in Malta, non-profit associations can grow cannabis to distribute among their members, Equality Minister Owen Bonnici said. The minister also said that people wou ...
The minister for reforms Owen Bonnici has tabled the first reading of Malta's government proposed cannabis reform. Taking to Twitter, Bonnici said the bill “will establish a new legal framework gover ...
The cannabis reform White Paper attracted more than 350 submissions from organisations and individuals. Government is proposing full decriminalisation for adults in possession of 7g or less of cannab ...
Prime Minister Robert Abela of Malta launched a public consultation process on a White Paper to strengthen the legal framework on the repsonsible use of cannabis. The government is proposing that the ...
In Malta the Prime Minister has announced a White Paper on a possible new drug reform. Andrew Bonello: "In general, the gist of what the Prime Minister is proposing – that he is considering allowing ...
Cannabis users will not be sent to prison and will be able to grow a limited amount of plants as part of government’s reform, Prime Minister Robert Abela said. This is the first time that a governmen ...
Cannabis legalisation advocacy group ReLeaf has told the Prime Minister to get on with the decriminalisation of cannabis cultivation and consumption in a meeting. ReLeaf president Andrew Bonello said ...
ReLeaf Malta has reiterated a call for the full decriminalisation of adult cultivation of cannabis by 2021. The cannabis law reform group said the Maltese government should prioritise the right to he ...
A court has spared a man a sentence of up to 10 years in prison after more than 100g of cannabis was found in his car, ruling it was for personal use. Magistrate Doreen Clarke observed that there was ...
Rosianne Cutajar, in her new role as reforms parliamentary secretary, said that it is now time to start implementing the cannabis reform, which aims to legalise recreational cannabis. Prime Minister ...
The prison sentence for a woman who was cultivating cannabis for her personal use, has led to the proposal of legal amendments that will give the Maltese courts discretion on how to sentence such cas ...
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 be ...
Parliamentary Secretary Julia Farrugia Portelli has come under fire from exponents in her party over comments on cannabis in a TV interview. Farrugia Portelli, who is entrusted with reforms, includin ...