Malta Considers Safe Cannabis Consumption Places, New Legal Forms Of Marijuana And Bans HHC Products

Malta's cannabis authority is considering establishing places where people can consume cannabis. Under the current law, cannabis use is only allowed in private, which makes it complicated for people with children, because the law doesn't allow smoking near minors. Other challenges include neighbors who don't like the smell of weed, leaving cannabis users with not many choice.

That's why the Authority for the Responsible Use of Cannabis (ARUC) is considering on-site consumption options and analyzing how it can be done properly.

"Are we offering a safe space where people can consume cannabis? On-site smoking would offer these people a safe and viable option, away from minors, public places and other people who are bothered by the odor," Joey Reno Vella, CEO of ARUC, told Times of Malta in a recent interview.

"But thorough consultations with stakeholders must precede implementation, and we cannot open these places just anywhere. Planning law, for instance, stipulates that associations are built at least 250 meters away from schools, sports facilities and childcare centers."

The on-site consumption consideration comes some three years after Malta became the first country in Europe to legalize cannabis, which Vella recently praised as a successful reform. “The country’s harm reduction approach is working,” he previously said.

Read Also: Cannabis In Europe: From Marijuana Busts To New Industry Partnerships, Here’s What’s New In Poland, Greece And UK

• Get Benzinga’s exclusive analysis and the top news about the cannabis industry and markets daily in your inbox for free. Subscribe to our newsletter here. If you’re serious about the business, you can’t afford to miss out.

Fighting Illegal Market With Cannabis Resin

According to Vella, while the black market is not, and probably never will be, eliminated entirely, it has certainly been curbed.

"The feedback we're getting from the associations indicates that the members who are registering were already cannabis consumers, which means they shifted from the black market towards the safer, regulated option," Vella said.

To encourage more cannabis users to move from the illegal market to the safer legal option, ARUC is also considering allowing licensed associations to sell other forms of cannabis currently available only illegally, such as cannabis resin.

"There's research which shows that resin is much more powerful, so we need to see all safeguards are in place before we can implement the change. But associations are telling us some of their members prefer the resin, as opposed to the dried cannabis, which is the only option we offer now," Vella said.

Vella asserted that none of these reforms under consideration aim to normalize or liberalize cannabis use but only to offer safer options to existing cannabis users. He noted that ARUC has strict rules around cannabis, covering age verification, restrictions on advertising, and consumption limits. According to him, laws are stricter than any law on alcohol and tobacco consumption or betting.

Ban On HHC Products, Two New Clubs

Among Vella's priorities when he became ARUC's CEO in March was to ensure people are not prosecuted for possessing CBD products with low THC content and to ban HHC products from the market.

HHC is a semi-synthetic cannabinoid and a hydrogenated form of THC. To bypass the law and offer psychoactive products to buyers some chemists are using legal THC from hemp. Sellers of HHC products claim it provides euphoric sensations, but also mental and physical relaxation. HHC can be found in the form of dried flowers, resins, oils and vaping concentrates.

"It was sold in the form of gummies, lollipops and marshmallows, and  packaged in a way that indicated children could consume it harmlessly," Vella said. "It was never regulated by ARUC but it was the antithesis of all that we stand for, and that's why I'm satisfied to see it banned."

Because of the brief history of HHC consumption, scientific studies about its safety and effects are limited, and more and more countries are beginning to ban these products.

Last week, ARUC also granted two cannabis associations licenses to register up to 50 and 100 members. Some 15 other applications are pending.

Continue reading on Malta Today.

Read next:

• Ukraine Approves Medical Marijuana For Certain Health Conditions, PTSD Left Out For Now

Photo: Courtesy of Georgios Tsichlis via Shutterstock