Members of parliament should safeguard the mental wellbeing of young people and not the interests of a few, the Secretariat for Catholic Education and the Church Schools Association (CSA) said in their reaction to the white paper on the legalisation of cannabis.

According to a reform proposal unveiled a few days ago, cannabis users will be allowed to grow their own plants at home and legally carry up to seven grams of the drug for personal use. 

Prime Minister Robert Abela said during the announcement that the government was open to hearing suggestions about how the sale of cannabis and cannabis seeds could be safely regulated.  The white paper is open to public consultation until May 11. 

In their statement, the two organisations said they are concerned about several issues raised in the white paper.

They emphasised that priority should be given to the effect of cannabis on young people’s mental health and the way it will promote and strengthen a cannabis culture among the young, now and in the future. 

They appealed to members of parliament to “always safeguard the mental wellbeing of young people” and not “the interests of the few” who will enrich themselves at their expense.

They said they fully support the arguments put forward in a joint statement by Caritas Malta, OASI, and the Malta Psychiatry Association, “which describes the negative consequences” that the proposed law will have.

These had stated that stating they while did not believe cannabis users should be sent to prison, they stood by previous arguments that users should be encouraged to seek help and move away from drug use.

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