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Cannabis legalisation: There can be no way forward without a White Paper
Despite changes in 2014 that introduced a non-criminal tribunal for people caught with small amounts of drugs, the law still empowers police to arrest pot smokers
25 February 2021, 7:28am
by James Debono
The Valentine’s Day arrest of a couple smoking a joint exposed the contrast between government’s intention to go soft on recreational use of cannabis and reality.
Despite changes in 2014 that introduced a non-criminal tribunal for people caught with small amounts of drugs, the law still empowers police to arrest pot smokers.
Government has now been consulting stakeholders since 2017 over a softer approach, but its intentions have never been spelt out clearly. The Prime Minister’s commitment last week to present a White Paper laying out the intended direction suggests a way forward out of this impasse.