This week, Malta will become the first European Country to legalise the cultivation and possession of cannabis for personal use as the nation undergoes a wave of change to its drug laws.

For those aged 18 and above, possession of up to seven grams of cannabis will be legal as well as growing up to four cannabis plants at home with up to 50g of the dried product storable.

A vote in favour of the legislation in the Maltese parliament on Tuesday will be followed by the law being signed by the president in order for it to be enacted by the weekend according to Owen Bonnici, the minister responsible.

Bonnici said his government did not want to encourage the use of recreational drugs but there was no evidence for the popular argument that the use of cannabis was in itself a gateway to harder substances.

He said: "There is a wave of understanding now that the hard-fist approach against cannabis users was disproportionate, unjust and it was rendering a lot of suffering to people who are leading exemplary lives. But the fact that they make use on a personal basis of cannabis is putting them in the jaws of criminality.

He added: "I'm very glad that Malta will be the first country which will put words in statute in a comprehensive manner with a regulatory authority".

Possession of up to 28 grams will lead to a fine of €50-€100 however no criminal record will be given. Furthermore, those under the age of 18 who are found in possession will be recommended a care plan rather than face arrest. 

Bonnici said that the government has conducted a long debate over whether to put restrictions on the strength of cannabis that will be permitted to be grown and used, measured by the level of the key psychoactive, or mood-altering, ingredient, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, commonly known as THC.

He states: "We had a huge discussion internally on that. And we concluded that if a limit [can be put] on the strength of the cannabis...you will be creating a new market for the black market. What we need to do is to educate people and inform them day after day."