The cannabis White Paper, legalization, or decriminalization?

Cannabis is one of the oldest cultivated plants in East Asia, grown for grain and fibre as well as for recreational, medical, and ritual purposes for over 2000 years.

By the late 1800s, cannabis extracts were sold in pharmacies and doctors’ offices throughout Europe and the United States to treat stomach problems and other minor illnesses.

Scientists later discovered that Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) was the source of marijuana’s medicinal properties. As the psychoactive compound responsible for marijuana’s mind-altering effects, THC also interacts with areas of the brain that can lessen nausea and promote hunger.

In fact, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved two drugs with THC that are prescribed in pill form, namely Marinol and Syndros, to treat nausea caused by chemotherapy which is one of the cures for cancer as well as loss of appetite. In the US, the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 was the first federal U.S. law to criminalize Cannabis nationwide.

The Act imposed an excise tax on the sale, possession or transfer of all hemp products, effectively criminalizing all but industrial uses of the plant. Interestingly it was fifty-eightyear-old farmer Samuel Caldwell who was the first person prosecuted under the Act. He was arrested for selling marijuana on October 1937, just one day after the Act was enacted.

Caldwell was sentenced to four years of hard labour.

People have been smoking cannabis for hundreds of years aside from the fact of it being considered legal or illegal. As a psychologist I am not going to advocate the use of a psychoactive substance and as a parent of a 13-year boy, I won’t be happy to say the least, if I get to know that my son is smoking cannabis. However, I will be furious if his future and police conduct will be ruined because he’s caught smoking a joint.

Treatment not Imprisonment Act, first step in the right direction

In 2015, the Government introduced an act to provide for the treatment of persons in possession of small quantities of prohibited drugs for personal use.

With the introduction of this act, whoever has been caught with under 3.5 grams of cannabis or cannabis resin, two ecstasy pills or in possession of a prohibited drug in a quantity of less than two grams, irrespective of purity, will be tried in accordance with the Commissioners for Justice and be liable for a fine of fifty to hundred euros in case of cannabis and between seventyfive to hundred and twenty-five euros in case of other drugs.

This was already a breath of fresh air, which avoided youngsters being arraigned in front of a judge in the law courts as though they committed a heinous crime. Drug users started to go in front of the Commissioner for Justice who is also a professional social worker. This Act started to put things into perspective in giving a strong message that drug users are not criminals.

What’s being proposed in the White Paper?

What is being proposed in this White Paper is that the current limit for adult possession for personal use is increased from 3.5 grams to 7 grams and the total decriminalization of cannabis. Therefore adults in possession of 7 grams or less for their personal use cannot be subject to any legal proceedings, or the imposition of any fine or punishment.

Therefore, adults cannot be subject to arrest, or escorted to the police station for interrogation based on that possession. It is also being proposed that the possession of more than 7 grams but less than 28 grams for one’s exclusive personal use should be subject to proceedings before the Commissioner for Justice, as currently contemplated for the possession of less than 3.5 grams.

Minors, under the age of eighteen, should be distanced from the criminal justice system as much as possible. It is being proposed that minors in possession of cannabis for their personal use should not be subject to proceedings before the Criminal Courts, but before the Commissioner for Justice and the Drug Offenders Rehabilitation Board, as the case may require. Penalties should be of an administrative nature, not criminal, and should assist minors in moving away from cannabis use.

It is being proposed that every residential household can grow up to 4 plants, in a space which is not visible to the public. The cultivated cannabis cannot be sold and can only be consumed by the persons living in the same household. Cannabis cannot be consumed where minors are present, and residents are to ensure that it is stored in places which are inaccessible to minors residing in the same household.

Consumption of cannabis in public will not be allowed in any case. An administrative fine of €233.33 will be imposed for this breach.

Conclusion

What is being proposed is another step in the right direction. We are not at the end of the journey but this is already a very good start. Why start and not continue on what was established in 2015? The treatment not imprisonment Act did not decriminalise the use of cannabis, therefore cannabis users were still being arrested and dragged to the Police Headquarters for questioning.

This ordeal alone in some cases can be traumatising and can cause a lot of stress especially in minors. Arresting minors is not going to stop them from their natural inclination of experimenting and it will just traumatise them.

When it comes to adults, they are of age to know what’s good and bad. I’m not going to advocate the use of cannabis as much as I’m not going to advocate the use of alcohol and cigarettes or any other addiction.

I was a bit surprised with the position taken by some NGO’s that work in the sector. Although they stated and emphasized that cannabis users shouldn’t be sent to prison or have their police record tarnished, they fail to suggest anything on how this aim could be reached.

Stranger than that was their assumption that now, “drug traffickers will supply their runners the amounts stipulated of 7 grams or less so if they get caught as they be liable only for an administrative fine”

The White Paper is clear that the sale of Cannabis is still being considered as trafficking, so if the runner has 7 grams he is still going to be prosecuted for trafficking. With all the good intentions, being tunnel visioned without advocating for this much-needed change will not help rather hinder the development and the future of our younger generation.