Cannabis contract signed but law not yet approved by Parliament

Updated 7pm with ministry statement The government on Friday failed to explain how an Australian company had been given a contract to develop a 4,000 square metre facility to construct a medical production and cannabis cultivation facility in the south of Malta when the law making this possible had not even been approved by Parliament. The Times of Malta is informed that the law on the production of cannabis for medical purposes is still being debated in Parliament and MPs are yet to vote on its approval at third reading. According to Malta’s legislative system, a Bill becomes law only after MPs approve it at third reading in Parliament, it is signed by the President and is published in the Government Gazette. Despite that the Production of Cannabis for Medical Use Bill is still on the agenda of the House of Representatives awaiting a final vote, MGC Pharma earlier this week said that “the Maltese government had given the Australian company the go-ahead to construct and operate a medical cannabis facility in Malta”. Read: Malta Enterprise approves five medical cannabis investments MGC co-founder and CEO Roby Zomer said the contract with the Maltese government “provides MGC with...