Well done to retired judge Joseph Galea Debono for speaking out about this
Joseph Galea Debono, a retired judge who for years presided over some of Malta’s most high-profile trials, has told Times of Malta that the proposed drug law reform is based on the false premiss that drug users are sent to prison.
They are not.
They are given “a slap on the wrist, a conditional discharge and perhaps a fine,” he said, “and it is the same with repeat offenders. I don’t understand what all this hullabaloo is about.”
I’m afraid the government is piggy-backing on the uproar surrounding the Daniel Holmes case. Holmes is in prison for 10 years. But the point people like to miss, because it suits them, is that Holmes was not (only) a marijuana user. He was, primarily, a marijuana dealer. That’s how he lived.
I agree that 10 years is too severe for a small-time marijuana dealer when you consider, for comparison’s sake, that a notorious and dedicated long-term cocaine trafficker (not dealer) like Meinrad Calleja got 15 years.
But the point is that Holmes was jailed for cultivation and dealing and not for using.
The only people you help by decriminalising possession for personal use is the dealers, who get a bigger and easier market.
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Muscat wants to give an iced-bun to the drug barons. He might have made a secret pact with them just as he did with China, the power station contractors, the gas suppliers, the gay lobby, the developers…
Bhal tal-gay adoption din.
Il-pedament tal-argument ikun premessa hazina.
Fil-kaz tal-gay adoptions, li l-gays u l-heterosexuals ghandhom dritt jaddottaw. IT-TFAL GHANDHOM ID-DRITT LI JIGU ADDOTTATI.
That should nip Joseph’s plan in the bud.
I know many drug users who have been caught and arrested over the years and none of them were thrown in jail. The dealers and the sharers are a different story and so be it.
We all know this. But the lesson here is that we should be aware that Muscat, as an ex-reporter and frequent liar, knows how easy it is to fool people into forgetting what they already know. He does it all the time.
This is another example where the Prime Minister misleads (lies).
This brings to mind another misleading statement he made, which is that immigrant children are locked up in detention centres.
“The only people you help by decriminalising possession for personal use is the dealers, who get a bigger and easier market.”
This is the most significant point that many seem to be missing.
Another is that the decriminalisation of drugs for personal use is another step towards destroying the very fibre of Maltese society. Muscat wants to reengineer Malta into something completely alien.
Spot on as usual. Joe Galea Debono was not one to dish to lenient sentences. His days in court are sadly missed.
So true.
Malta’s very own ” hanging judge”. He is missed.
Many seem to have forgotten that Holmes was in possession of 32 cannabis plants.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-10-31/news/daniel-holmes-appeal-rejected-3053551617/
The trivialisation of drugs and ‘small traffickers’ needs to stop. There are enough social and medical problems related to cigarettes and alcohol.
If Muscat wanted to decriminalise personal possession of illegal drugs and not simply work in favour of the drug barons, he would be issuing licences for drug retail outlets.
How can you legalise consumption and at the same time still consider retail illegal? It makes no sense whatsoever.
I agree. Drugs should be legalised and sold in licensed establishments or pharmacies.
But that’s not what Muscat is proposing which makes this a ‘very’ dodgy strategy.
Who knows, maybe next year it will be a million under the mattress!
One of the major problems in this country is that many people remember lies as if they were a truth and forget truth for convenience purposes.
The former judge himself mentions cases where drug addicts have been imprisoned. Now, to my knowledge, there are many drug addicts and/or former drug addicts in prison.
Obviously the point of decriminalisation is that drug taking would not remain a criminal offence (and therefore subject to criminal sanctions).
[Daphne – David, lots of dealers are also users. You go to jail for the dealing, not the using, and using does not let you off the hook of a prison sentence for dealing. Yes, Corradino prison has addicted inmates – but would you suggest not imprisoning somebody found guilty of murder just because he happens to be a drug addict?]
“Father” Mark Montebello would.
Well if a drug addict was, due to his addiction, insane when committing murder, then imprisonment may not be the correct punishment.
[Daphne – Oh no? Then what would you do with somebody like David Schembri who, in a cocaine-fuelled frenzy, broke down the door of his ex-girlfriend’s flat and stabbed her more than 50 times in front of their little daughter? Her ravaged body was found wedged between the kitchen cupboards, where she had been cowering. He is serving life in prison. And what about Charles Muscat who, after a night and day snorting cocaine, rushed out into the Mosta street where he lived and began shooting wildly, killing one of his neighbours who was out fixing his car? And drunk drivers who mow people down – what about them? You see, David, what you fail to do is make the distinction between derangement that is not of our choosing (psychotic episodes that are the result of congenital mental illness) and ‘insanity’ that we have chosen and for which we are fully responsible. This last includes the decision to take mind-bending drugs – and yes, of course we should be punished if we cause harm to others because we have deliberately chosen to alter our state of mind.]
As I had stated, I disagree with decriminalisation. However since imprisonment is still on the statute book for first time drug users, the criminal law should be amended to abolish this punishment in this case.
Not all drug addcits are in prison for dealing. Others commit crimes such as theft to fund their habit. Some in fact argue that drug taking should not be a crime as it is a “victimless crime”, however this is often not the case.
A mental deterioration of judgement that was deliberately self-induced in the irresponsible quest for pleasure should never be accepted as an extenuating circumstance. It is more accurately explained as an aggravating factor.
Isn’t insanity due to intoxication, even if voluntary, a defence at law?
[Daphne – Is it? I was given to understand that it’s an exacerbating factor and not a mitigating one, as in drunk driving. Do you get a lower prison sentence for stabbing somebody in a cocaine-fuelled frenzy than you would if you hadn’t taken cocaine? No, you don’t.]
Malta should be proud to have people like former judge Joe Galea Debono. A man of great integrity who would have made a very good President of the Republic.
May we be blessed by having more judges like Joseph Galea Debono.
Employers to pay additional national insurance contributions.
Some of Joseph’s friends, business partners are going to be happy with this.
Why not just increase the COLA as recently suggested. At least the employers will get some credit.
What do you expect from a social government?
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140502/local/police-sought-hunters-advice-on-how-to-handle-bbc-presenter-birdlife.517366
‘…Volunteer Nimrod Mifsud told timesofmalta.com later that when a police sergeant arrived on the scene where Mr Packham was being obstructed by hunters, the officer called “l-Ghaqda Kumitat” to ask how to handle the situation.
When he hung up, the officer told Mr Packham and his team to continue walking along the footpath without filming….’
They got Joseph by the balls, erm, uccellino.
And if Mallia is to be taken at face value the mess seems compounded at cabinet level, serious doubts who the police commissioner answers to.
‘…Mr Micklewright also said that the organisation had received a letter from the Data Protection Commissioner following the judicial protest launched against Mr Packham by the FKNK.
They claimed a conflict of interest in the matter as an associate of Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia was also a recipient of the letter.
Dr Mallia is the minister responsible for the police and should not have been included in this delicate matter, Mr Micklewright said.
Contacted for his reaction, the minister insisted he was no longer involved in the law firm Emanuel Mallia & Associates, to which the letter had been sent.
He added that the amount of public funds spent on enforcement during the hunting season was equivalent to €43 per hunter. He argued that if each hunter received four quails bought from a supermarket, €125,000 would have been saved.
He also said volunteers spent a total of 20 hours undergoing police questioning this year.
“I believe that this time could have been much better spent catching criminals rather than questioning those trying to stop the illegal slaughtering of birds,” he said….’
Trust Lidl Mallia and his home economics.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140502/local/silvio-schembri-appointed-chairman-of-responsible-gaming-foundation.517374
The majority does not know about the application of laws and so we are grateful to people like Dr. Galea Debono who explain to us so that we are not fooled.