Two Spanish women who admitted to cultivating and importing cannabis to sustain their personal use of the drug, were each handed a suspended jail sentence during an arraignment which brought into contrast Maltese and Spanish law on the subject.

Olga Moran Matia, 27, and Miriam Ruiz Itturbe, 31, both admitted to cultivating a cannabis plant, importing cannabis resin and cannabis possession.

Prosecuting Inspector Frank Anthony Tabone explained how the women, who have been in Malta for the past year, were heavy cannabis users. A just-sprouted plant had been found at their home, together with some 19 grams of cannabis resin, one gram short of the 20 gram legal limit applicable back in their homeland.

“In Spain they may keep up to 20 grams and cultivate up to two plants,” Inspector Tabone told the court, presided by Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech. “However in Malta, even one plant is against the law.” He said the prosecution was not insisting on an effective jail term in this case.

In the light of these circumstances, the court declared the accused guilty upon their own admission and handed each a one-year jail term suspended for two years. It also ordered the confiscation and destruction of the plant, resin and drug-related paraphernalia.

Lawyer Dustin Camilleri was legal aid counsel.