The challenges & impacts police may face with the new cannabis law amendments

Abstract

In 2021, Malta was one of the first countries in the European Union to amend its laws and decriminalise cannabis for recreational use. This controversial decision had a strongly divided opinion. Opponents of cannabis decriminalisation argue that since the law amendment, the significantly increased police workload is compounded by a lack of human resources to carry out inspections on every complaint they receive. Advocates of cannabis decriminalisation insist that this has relieved police workload affording them more time to pursue more serious and relevant crimes. In this regard, this research’s main aim is to focus on the impacts and complications police now face due to the new law amendment. This research sought to investigate the benefits and drawbacks of this new cannabis reform. This research also sought to gather views from members of the Malta Police Force, specifically members of the Drug Squad Unit regarding their views of the law amendment. Ultimately, this research aimed to investigate whether this controversial reform was beneficial or not. To gather such information, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight members of the Malta Police Force who were serving in the Drug Squad Unit. Given that the collected data is entirely based on the opinions of professionals in the field, a qualitative analysis was deemed the most appropriate methodology. Subsequently, all the interviews were transcribed and subjected to Thematic Analysis, which yielded several themes. This study found that the police came across a number of complications during their typical day of work. Their workload has also significantly increased, especially in cases of importation and complaints received by phone, email, or anonymously. The findings of this study matched the outcomes reported in existing relevant research literature.