Following recent debates on the issue, ELSA Malta’s Social and Legal Policy Committee, headed by Director for Social Policy and Legal Publications, Jake Camilleri, has just issued a Policy Paper on marijuana.
The paper adopts a rather comparative approach by looking at how different countries around the world are utilising marijuana and how in most places it may be consumed without fear of prosection.
The team, made up of Liam Axisa, Brendan Hewer, Natalia Camilleri, Tim Vella, and Matteo Alessandro, delved into the situations in such countries including Portugal and California and examined the economic benefits.
For instance, in the Netherlands, a coffee shop who is the only outlet authorised to sell marijuana generates over seven million euros a year.
All in all the paper, aims at focusing on all these benefits in order to understand better what could be done if marijuana had to be legalised in Malta too. Ultimately, the main aim is to enlighten legislators to encourage a calculated decision and to educate.