Recreational Use of Cannabis: A National Referendum

On the 14th of December 2021 Malta became the first EU country to officially decriminalize the cultivation and personal use of cannabis for recreational purposes. The amended legislation states that adults are allowed to carry up to seven grams of cannabis and to grow up to four plants at home. These amendments came into force after the majority of the Members of Parliament voted in favour, which right to vote was denied to Maltese citizens, many of whom are against such new law.

ABBA emphasised that being a democratic country means that power lies in the hands of the people. This, therefore, requires that such significant laws which can pose a serious threat to Maltese society, cannot be enacted without a referendum, which is a democratic right of all citizens and allows them to participate in the decision-making process.

In order for this democratic right to be exercised and to ensure that such law is repealed and not be imposed on citizens, ABBA party took the initiative and started collecting signatures from Maltese citizens. This initiative was not only taken due to the harmful nature of the law itself but also after seeing many people who are concerned about the consequences which such kind of decriminalization can lead to. In fact, the law has now legalised and encouraged practices, the harmful consequences of which were never explained to the people – certainly because there would have been a strong resistance had the truth been revealed to the public. ABBA party believes that this law was just another political mileage and consequently it is now lawful for people to smoke cannabis, suffer the consequences whilst harming others without their consent.

While the law was initially proposed with the ‘good intention’ to regulate the sector so that people don't have to resort to the black market, the law now incorporates negative aspects which ABBA believes should never have been used to fulfil the original aim which the law was originally enacted for. As a Christian political party, ABBA maintains that this law goes against Christian beliefs - Jesus Christ would have definitely fought against the enactment of such a law which introduces harmful practices and encourages the use of such a harmful substance.

ABBA also contends that it is ironic how New Zealand is working on banning cigarettes whilst Malta is opening its doors to cannabis! For this reason, ABBA invites all citizens who have at heart the Maltese society, to unite and join this battle against the decriminalization of the cultivation and recreational use of cannabis in order to safeguard the health of the current and future generations. The referendum is now the only democratic weapon we have to fight this in a way that ensures that the will of the people, and not of a political minority in power, is respected!