Pubdate: Sun, 22 Sep 2013 Source: Times, The (Malta) Copyright: 2013 Allied Newspapers Limited Contact: http://www.timesofmalta.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2310 Author: Kristina Chetcuti IN JUST A FEW YEARS' TIME, OUR CHILDREN WILL SMOKE WEED I drive past the imposing, barbed-wired building of the prison in Paola every day. I should stop saying ' prison' really, seeing as for several years now it's been a ' correctional facility'. I quite agree with this turn of phrase, even though it's a mouthful. Corradino is no Norwegian prison - where inmates live in ' pods' and get lessons in respecting neighbours - but at least the intention is that one day it will become less of ' behind the bars' and more of a place for people to adjust their behaviour. I am not Peppi Azzopardi - I do not believe society should ' make do' with prisons. I think there is need for them. I think that if someone's action is criminal and causes a lot of harm then that someone has to pay the consequences. Sometimes, however, some actions would be minimally harmful but people are still handed out harsh sentences. Like Daniel Holmes, the Welsh dad, jailed for 10 years and fined =80 23,000 in November 2011 for growing cannabis - which he claims to have been for personal use - at his Gozo apartment. The 35- year-old has for the past 16 months been sitting in his prison cell, striking off days on the calendar until October 31 when the judgment on his appeal will come out. At present, the law dictates that somebody caught with drugs for personal use can potentially face a one-year prison term and a fine, but the sentence is left to the magistrate's discretion. Mostly, first-time offenders are put on probation. However, Holmes was sentenced to more than a year because he was also charged with trafficking, and that carries a heftier penalty. Ten years is a lot for something that is minimally harmful; especially when you consider that someone who committed rape got four years for that heinous crime. This verdict will be crucial not just for Holmes but also for the prevailing of common sense. Former European Court of Human Rights judge Giovanni Bonello, who heads the Commission for Justice Reform, has said that personal drug use should be treated as a social problem, not a crime. Bonello's commission is proposing to decriminalise first-time drug possession by having such cases dealt with by a specialised board rather than the courts; in other words, taking it off the criminal radar. This means that drug users would no longer have to be arrested, interrogated and hauled to court by the police but would simply be fined. In my book, this means the police would be free to chase the big fish - the real traffickers - rather than the small fry. Let's face it, people who use the drug for occasional, recreational purposes do not need help, nor do they need to be thrown in prison. Corradino is already overcrowded, and yet we keep locking up people on possession-related charges. The truth is that use of weed in Malta is prolific. If you don't smoke it yourself, you know someone who does. According to the United Nation's 2011 World Drug Report, about 4.5 per cent of the population in Malta smoke weed at least once a year. That's roughly 18,000 people and that's only the ones who are truthful in surveys. I'm sure if we all had to be honest and raise our hands, we'd break the Guinness Book of Records for the largest Hola' in the world. It does not mean that we're a pothead nation ( although sometimes, by the way we get worked up about the stupidest of things, I think it would not be such a bad idea). I have no doubt that at some point in her late teenage life, my daughter will tell me that she shared a joint with her friends. I won't dance for joy, but I won't exactly be tearing my hair out. I'll be happy if she sticks to one rule when it comes to mild vices: moderation. And to stave off addiction, these creature comforts should always be consumed in social contexts. For example, I never drink wine on my own, however good the bottle it would taste way too lonely. Same thing for smoking if we all were merely social smokers rather than dragging solitary puffs on cigarettes, then there'd be no need for all these smoking cessation campaigns. An occasional joint, like the occasional downing of a bottle or two of wine, won't harm anyone. I really wish Malta would follow in the footsteps of Portugal, where criminal penalties for drug users were eliminated 12 years ago and those caught with small amounts of marijuana, cocaine or heroin are not indicted. It seems to be working. Meanwhile, we hope that Holmes' verdict will take into consideration his repentance, his character, his outlook on life, his determination and his family. This needs to be a sentence to restore our faith in our courts. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom