ACT No. V of 2018 A N A C T t o a m e n d t h e D r u g D e p e n d e nc e ( Tre a t m e n t n o t Imprisonment) Act, Cap. 537.

I assent.

(L.S.)

MARIE-LOUISE

COLEIRO PRECA

President

9th March, 2018

ACT No. V of 2018

A N A C T t o a m e n d t h e D r u g D e p e n d e nc e ( Tre a t m e n t n o t

Imprisonment) Act, Cap. 537.

BE IT ENACTED by the President, by and with the advice and

consent of the House of Representatives in this present Parliament

assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows:-

(1) The short title of this Act is the Drug Dependence

commencement.

(Treatment not Imprisonment) (Amendment) Act, 2018, and this Act

shall be read and construed as one with the Drug Dependence

(Treatment not Imprisonment) Act, hereinafter referred to as "the

principal Act".

(2) The provisions of this Act shall come into force on such date

as the Minister may establish by notice in the Gazette.

Article 2 of the principal Act shall be amended as follows

(a) immediately before the definition "conviction",

there shall be added the following new definition

" "Cannabinoid" means one of a group of

compounds found only in any plant of the genus

Cannabis;";

(b) immediately after the definition "drug laws", there

shall be added the following new definition

" "Good Manufacturing Practice" means the part of

quality assurance which ensures that products are

consistently produced and controlled in accordance

with the quality standards appropriate to their intended

use and in li ne with t he current de taile d good

manufacturing practice guidelines published by the

European Union Commission;";

(c) in the definition "Minister" immediately after the

words "responsible for Justice" there shall be added the words

"unless otherwise specified."; and

(d) immediately after the definition "prohibited drug",

there shall be added the following new definition

" "synthetic Cannabinoids" means substances with

structural features which allow binding to one of the

known cannabinoid receptors, i.e. CB1 or CB2, present

in human cells and compounds with similar chemical

structures.".

Article 10 of the principal Act shall be amended as follows

Amendment of

article 10 of the

principal Act.

(a) the present article shall be renumbered as article

10(1) and substituted by the following;

"(1) A licenced medical practitioner who is duly

registered

in accordance with the Health Care

Professions Act, shall be entitled to prescribe to patients

medicinal preparations of the plant cannabis and

synthetic Cannabinoid products licensed under the

Medicines Act or manufactured under Good

Manufacturing Practice, if it is considered that there is

no viable alternative to such prescription due account

being taken of any protocols which may be in force from

time to time in respect of the prescription of medicines,

of the interests of the patient and of the costs."; and

(b) immediately after sub-article (1) as renumbered

there shall be added the following new sub-articles

"(2) None of the preparations referred to in sub-

article (1) may be indicated for smoking or in any form

meant for smoking.

(3) The provisions of the Medicines Act, shall,

mutatis mutandis, apply and the provisions of the Drugs

(Control) Regulations shall also, mutatis mutandis,

apply with regard to the control card

Provided that no urgent prescriptions shall be

allowed in relation to these preparations.

(4) The medical practitioner shall apply for the

preparations referred to in sub-article (1) only on a

named patient basis as directed by the Superintendent of

Public Health.

(5) Preparations referred to in sub-article (1) can

only be dispensed by a pharmacist from a licensed

pharmacy.

(6) Preparations referred to in sub-article (1) can

only be imported by a licensed wholesale dealer or a

licensed manufacturer.".

Article 12 of the principal Act shall be renumbered as article

12(1) and immediately thereafter there shall be added the following

new sub-article (2)

"(2) The Minister responsible for health may make

regulations for the better implementation of the

provisions of article 10 of this Act.".

Passed by the House of Representatives at Sitting No. 90 of the 6th

ANĠLU FARRUGIA

Speaker

RAYMOND SCICLUNA

Clerk of the House of Representatives

€0.36