As educators working on a daily basis with children and youths, the Secretariat for Catholic Education (SfCE) and the Church Schools’ Association (CSA) feel a responsibility to give their feedback on the proposals listed in the White Paper on the recreational use of cannabis.
In doing so, we are guided by four key principles:
Society should fund initiatives that promote a healthy and holistic lifestyle rather than encourage substance use.
The personal use of small amounts of cannabis should not be criminally penalised but society should do this without normalising the use of cannabis.
The regulated medicinal use of cannabis, under the guidance of medical professionals, is a positive and responsible development but does not automatically imply that the recreational use of cannabis should be normalised.
The principle of social justice obliges society to protect its most vulnerable members. At-risk youth and children may be impacted negatively by the normalisation of cannabis use.
With these principles in mind, we feel that the White Paper has a number of problematic issues.
The statistics and science are clear. Cannabis use can lead to serious addiction issues. For example, 75 per cent of youths aged between 14-19, following the Caritas services in 2019, started using drugs by smoking cannabis. In countries where cannabis was legalised, there was an increase in adolescents’ use of cannabis for recreational purposes. Furthermore, cannabis use may cause damage to the human brain, which does not fully develop until 25 years of age.
Allowing four cannabis plants, amounting to two kilograms per household, is troubling. Repercussions include the risk of creating serious tensions in families where not all members agree on growing and smoking cannabis in their home. Furthermore, exposing children to cannabis in their home is serious, particularly for those coming from challenging social backgrounds.
The White Paper states that plants have to be placed “in a space not visible to the public”. This is unfeasible given the way Maltese houses are built and may lead to conflicts between neighbours. The difficulty to grow cannabis plants at home might lead to the creation of perceived business opportunities for those who actually manage to grow their own plants.
There is no mention of the repercussions of students attending educational institutions under the influence of cannabis consumed at home and the White Paper ignores the possibility of increased health and safety issues, particularly at work and in social situations, such as driving.
75 per cent of youths aged between 14-19 following the Caritas services in 2019 started using drugs by smoking cannabis
All organisations working in the area of substance abuse have expressed opposition to the White Paper. The Association of Psychiatrists, the Malta Association of Public Health Medicine, the Malta Employers’ Association and the Dean of the Faculty of Social Well-being at the University of Malta are all critical of the White Paper. The government needs to heed such opposition made by professionals with no partisan agenda.
There is broad consensus that the possession of small amounts of cannabis for personal use should not result in a criminal record. It is only recently that the possession of up to 3.5g of cannabis has been depenalised; yet, the White Paper rushes to propose the complete decriminalisation of possession of up to 7g and subject persons caught in possession of between 7g and 28g to appear before a Commissioner for Justice. This proposal runs the risk of creating loopholes to be used by traffickers to avoid criminal charges and of encouraging occasional users of small amounts to fall into more serious usage.
The White Paper is unclear about educational campaigns and seems to be proposing educational campaigns which tell our students that there is no problem with using this drug for recreation. This flies in the face of all educational campaigns carried out to date by all professionals working in the educational field.
The White Paper proposes the setting up of a Cannabis Authority. The need for such an authority is not clear, unless the long-term intention is to extend the use of cannabis more extensively than the measures mentioned in the White Paper.
Most seriously, the White Paper includes no strategic vision on how substance dependency should be reduced in our society. There is no discussion whether our national strategy should be to promote a culture of normalising cannabis, as the White Paper does, or to push for stronger state investment in policies and facilities for healthy recreational options. In Nordic countries, particularly Iceland, where the state heavily funds such programmes, the positive impact in reducing the rates of substance abuse is dramatic.
The debate surrounding the White Paper will shape the direction our society will take in the coming years. Our appeal as educators is for the government to engage in a healthy discussion on such an important issue, to commission research on the impact of these proposals and to avoid making the issue a vote-catching exercise. We strongly feel that the White Paper proposals should not be taken forward before the coming general elections.
The issue is too serious for our country to get wrong. Instead of rushing to push legislation which promotes substance use, society should create a national strategic direction on how to reduce substance use, based on the genuine personal, physical, mental and spiritual well-being of all persons.
The full SfCE and CSA position paper is available at https://www.csm.edu.mt/.
This article is signed by 53 officials, rectors, directors and heads of school from the Church School sector: Angela Charles, Anna Lisa Grech, Antonia Bugeja, Audrey Galea, Caroline Anastasi, Chris Bugeja, Christine Scerri, Clarissa Fleri Soler, Daniela Camilleri Sacco, Daniela Demicoli, Dorianne Pace, Dr Kenneth Vella, Dr Ian Mifsud, Dr Shirley Ann Gauci, Edwin Ungaro, Elaine Siegler, Emanuel Cilia, Fr Charles Mallia, Fr Clinton Farrugia, Fr David Cortis, Fr Emmanuel Saliba, Fr Jeremy Vella, Fr Jimmy Bartolo, Fr Jurgen Cucciardi, Fr Mark Ellul, Gabriella Abela, Gordon Baldacchino, James Aquilina, Joe Gauci, Dr John Portelli, Lawrence Bonello, Mariella Vella, Marika Abela, Mario Mallia, Marion Cutajar, Mariuccia Fenech, Marjoe Abela, Melanie Ungaro, Nicholai Mifsud, Noel Abela, Rachel Grech, Roberta Mifsud Bonnici, Sr Clara Pirotta, Sr Elaine Mifsud, Sr Elisabeth Gatt, Sr Frances Galea, Sr Francesca Abela, Sr Lucy Vella, Sr Marica Briffa, Sr Teresa Tonna, Sr Veronica Gerada, Stephen Briffa, Stephen Cachia.