Pain Clinic doctor acquitted of all charges in 'traumatic' drug trafficking case
Andrew Agius said his family had been living 'in limbo' since his arrest
A doctor specialising in medicinal cannabis, who was controversially arrested three years ago on drug trafficking charges has been acquitted of all charges.
Andrew Agius, founder of the Pain Clinic, which administers medicinal cannabis prescriptions, was arrested in March 2022 after police raided the clinic and his home, seizing equipment and other items and strip-searching staff.
Agius was hit with a freezing order and subjected to bail conditions, both of which are expected to be lifted in the coming days.
The case centred around Agius’ importing of medical, non-psychoactive ‘CBD’ cannabis, which is widely used in many countries as a therapeutic treatment for pain, and can now be bought over the counter in many shops around Malta.
Police had argued that the cannabis flower imported to Malta represented illegal trafficking of drugs, claiming the flower did not fit the definition of “cannabis products” as allowed by law, a claim hotly disputed by Agius’ lawyers and criticised by cannabis activists.
On Thursday, Agius was cleared of all charges, including importation, aggravated possession and trafficking of dangerous narcotics by Magistrate Elaine Rizzo.
Speaking to Times of Malta, Agius said he was “just happy that this is all over. It’s been traumatic to say the least – for me, my wife and children”.
“We’ve been living in fear and uncertainty all this time,” he said, describing him and his family as “being in limbo”, with the threat of a jail sentence Agius said could have extended to a life sentence, hanging over them.
“It will take time to digest, but I’m looking forward to getting my belongings and passport back,” he said, noting the police had confiscated his laptop, phone and other items in the raid three years ago.
Reflecting on the past three years, he said, “I thought everyone considered me a criminal – I was afraid of what people thought”.
“I was trying to help people and ended up being arrested and restricted from travelling,” he said, calling his arrest a “life-changing event”.
Agius thanked his “wife for standing by me the whole time, the rest of my family and my patients for supporting me”.
In 2023, United Nations-recognised drugs policy expert Martin Jelsma described authorities’ handling of Agius’ case as “absurd".
“CBD should not be under any control at all. The World Health Organisation did a serious review of all the available evidence, and they clearly said that CBD should not be under international control... there’s no reason to control it,” he said.
Agius’s arrest came just months after legislators passed a new cannabis law that, among other things, stipulates that CBD “products” with less than 0.2% THC do not qualify as cannabis subject to state control.
His lawyers argued that the CBD cannabis flowers that police seized fall under that definition; prosecutors, on the other hand, argued that cannabis flowers are not “products” and are therefore excluded.
Lawyers Giannella de Marco, Stephen Tonna Lowell and Alex Scerri Herrera appeared for the defence.