{"id":4366,"date":"2021-12-20T04:20:47","date_gmt":"2021-12-20T12:20:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/?p=4366"},"modified":"2021-12-20T07:17:03","modified_gmt":"2021-12-20T15:17:03","slug":"malta-makes-marijuana-legal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/malta-makes-marijuana-legal\/","title":{"rendered":"A First in Europe: Malta Makes Marijuana Legal"},"content":{"rendered":"

The parliament in Malta voted recently to make adult-use cannabis legal in the country, making the island nation the first in Europe to legalize marijuana. The law allows limited cultivation and possession of cannabis for personal use.<\/p>\n

Proponents hope the decision by Malta to legalize marijuana ends criminalization of people for smoking marijuana and reduces criminal trafficking. \u201cIt\u2019s groundbreaking,\u201d Owen Bonnici, the Maltese minister for equality, research and innovation, told the New York Times<\/a>.\u00a0 \u201cMalta can be a model for harm reduction.\u201d<\/p>\n

It may also be the first in a wave of legalization in Europe. Leaders in Luxembourg have announced plans to legalize cannabis but its parliament has not yet approved the measure. German leaders also appear ready to pass legalization<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What The New Law Allows<\/h2>\n

In parliament, the new law passed by a 36-27 vote. It allows adults in Malta to possess as much as seven grams of cannabis. It also allows them to legally grow up to four plants and keep up to 50 grams of dried cannabis at home. The law makes smoking cannabis in public and smoking in the presence of a child illegal.<\/p>\n

Bonnici, who filed the bill, said the Malta legalized marijuana system will take a harm-reduction approach by establishing a federal authority to regulate the sale of cannabis by non-profit associations.<\/p>\n

For those who have traveled to Europe, the \u201cfirst country in Europe\u201d distinction for Malta might seem confusing. That’s because other countries, most famously the Netherlands, have largely decriminalized possession of cannabis. However, in these countries, which also includes Spain and Portugal, carrying cannabis is still technically a civil offense and tolerated rather than protected by law.<\/p>\n

Steve Rolles, an analyst at the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, told the Times, \u201cMalta has formally legislated what exists in other European countries in a weird gray area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marijuana Legalization Around the World<\/h3>\n

While many states in the U.S. have legalized cannabis, lawmakers continue to dither over federal legalization while other countries move forward. Uruguay was the first, followed by Canada and now Malta.<\/p>\n

More will likely soon follow. In addition to the movement to legalize in Germany, cannabis advocates in Italy have collected the signatures needed to put a referendum on the ballot to legalize adult-use cannabis.<\/p>\n

By moving ahead quickly, Malta hopes to become a European leader in the production of medical cannabis, according to Reuters<\/a>. The country has a head start, as Maltese leaders first approved production of medical and research cannabis in 2018.<\/p>\n

Part of the reason for the change is the United Nations\u2019 decision to remove cannabis from its list of most dangerous drugs<\/a> in December 2020. Before the vote, which came on a recommendation from the World Health Organization, the UN had placed cannabis on the list for 59 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The island nation is likely the first of many European nations to move forward with legalization of cannabis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":4367,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[1216,282,1215,1217],"yoast_head":"\nA First in Europe: Malta Makes Marijuana Legal | Cannabis Use in Malta<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The island nation is likely the first of many European nations to move forward with legalization of cannabis.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/malta-makes-marijuana-legal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A First in Europe: Malta Makes Marijuana Legal | Cannabis Use in Malta\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The island nation is likely the first of many European nations to move forward with legalization of cannabis.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/malta-makes-marijuana-legal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dispensaries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dispensariescom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-12-20T12:20:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-12-20T15:17:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/cannabis-use-in-malta.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dispensaries Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@dispensariescom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dispensaries Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/malta-makes-marijuana-legal\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/malta-makes-marijuana-legal\/\",\"name\":\"A First in Europe: Malta Makes Marijuana Legal | Cannabis Use in Malta\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-20T12:20:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-20T15:17:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2935feeb3a368f3c87819d4c4d4cad0\"},\"description\":\"The island nation is likely the first of many European nations to move forward with legalization of cannabis.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/malta-makes-marijuana-legal\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/malta-makes-marijuana-legal\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/malta-makes-marijuana-legal\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A First in Europe: Malta Makes Marijuana Legal\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Dispensaries\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2935feeb3a368f3c87819d4c4d4cad0\",\"name\":\"Dispensaries Editor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d30250f23451474024d7b90b1b0b748?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d30250f23451474024d7b90b1b0b748?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dispensaries Editor\"},\"description\":\"The editorial staff at Dispensaries.com are industry insiders, focused on bringing you authoritative and in depth coverage of the legal marijuana industry. 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