The Republic of Malta Takes a Big Leap for a Small Country
Almost everyone, it seems, was caught off guard in December 2021 when Malta announced it had legalized adult use just months after Luxembourg legalized home growing. The two smallest countries in the European Union provide a big example for the movement toward further legalization and normalization in their part of the world. The Republic of Malta sits in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea just fifty miles south of Sicily. The 122-square-mile island has been inhabited since 5900 BC and today is home to 519,000 people — less than 1 percent of Germany’s population. Like other countries in the region, the nation has been ruled by many powers over the centuries. From Romans and Greeks to Brits, Arabs, and the French, all have left their mark; most recognized the island as a strategic naval base. In 2018, then-President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca signed into law a medical cannabis program. The one thing missing was a detailed list of qualifying conditions, leaving justification for presc...