Cap. 537 Art. 7AOrganisations of individuals.

(1) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Act or of any other law it shall be permissible to establish, and an individual may be a member of, an organisation the membership of which shall consist only of individuals in their personal capacity and acting only in their own name the only purpose of which being the cultivation of the plant cannabis exclusively for its members in a collective manner to distribute it only to those members.

(2) An organisation as referred to in sub-article (1) shall comply with the following provisions:

(a) it shall be registered with the Authority on the Responsible Use of Cannabis and prior to commencing its operations it shall obtain a permit from the said Authority to operate, which permit may be subject to general or particular conditions;

(b) it shall operate on a non-profit basis in accordance with the definition in article 2 of the Voluntary Organisations Act in such a manner that the provisions of the First Schedule of the said Act shall mutatis and to the extent to which they maybe mutandis applied, apply to the said organisation: Provided that in case of conflict, regulations made in accordance of sub-article (5) shall take precedence over the provisions of the Voluntary Organisations Act;

(c) it shall distribute cannabis only to its members and it shall not permit any other person not being its member to be present in any premises which it operates;

(d) it shall have distinctive marks on the containers in which it distributes cannabis in a manner which renders the distribution of the said containers by it identifiable and it shall carry out controls of the quality of cannabis distributed;

(e) it shall not have more than five hundred members or such other number of members as the Authority on the Responsible Use of Cannabis may determine by order in the Gazette;

(f) it shall not be allowed to advertise its activities in any manner and no indication by signs, words or designs, or otherwise of activities related to cannabis or to the cannabis culture shall be allowed to be shown from any premises managed by the organisation on the outside or in a way which is visible from the outside;

(g) any premises managed by the organisation shall not be within a distance of less than two hundred and fifty metres (250m) from the entrance of a school, sport facilities or youth centres;;

(h) it shall ensure that the presence of premises managed by it does not cause nuisance in the locality where it is situated, also including nuisance because of loitering, and ensure that every premises managed by it is in conformity with every law and regulation on health and safety as in force from time to time;

(i) that the persons who manage the organisation and the persons who render service in the premises managed by it shall be of good conduct and the organisation shall register them as such with the Authority on the Responsible Use of Cannabis;

(j) that no person under the age of eighteen (18) years may be a member of the organisation or be present in any premises managed by it;

(k) it shall not have more grams of cannabis than the amount which the Minister or the Authority on the Responsible Use of Cannabis shall determine according to the scale and the demands of the organisation by order in the Gazette or in any directive or legal instrument issued by the said Authority;

(l) that it shall not cultivate more cannabis plants that such number authorised by the Authority on the Responsible use of Cannabis and that it shall abide by all conditions and controls as such Authority may impose, including conditions relating to the places where cultivation may take place, where cannabis plants are dried and how they shall be transported;

(m) that the cannabis distributed to members should be in a sealed container the shape of which and the words or designs written or printed thereon shall require the approval of the Authority on the Responsible Use of Cannabis;

(n) that no alcoholic products shall be sold from any premises managed by the organisation;

(o) that the organisation shall cooperate fully and honestly at all times in any inspections which may be made in its regard from time to time by the public authorities, also including inspections held for the purpose of verifying what quantity and quality of cannabis is being distributed to the members of the organisation and to establish that the law is being observed;

(p) that it shall render account in writing every three (3) months to the Authority on the Responsible Use of Cannabis on the amount of cannabis distributed amongst the members of the organisation and about the number of members of the organisation;

(q) that it shall keep a register of its members which shall include as a minimum the names and copies of the identity card or of another official identity document or of the passport of the said members. Such register shall be kept in a manner which complies with any law on data protection as applicable from time to time: Provided that the Authority on the Responsible Use of Cannabis shall verify compliance with this requirement on the basis of confidentiality and non-disclosure: Provided further that the register of members and the information contained therein shall not be accessible or transferred to any entity, department, agency or authority and shall not be adduced as evidence in any proceedings before any court or tribunal, unless required in the conduct of investigating and prosecuting a criminal offence;

(r) that it shall not permit the same member to receive more than seven grams of cannabis in a single day or more than fifty grams of cannabis in any calendar month;

(s) that it shall not accept as members or in the continuation in its membership persons who are members of another organisation of the same type;

(t) that it shall abide by all conditions as the Minister may by regulations which may be issued on the basis of this article from time to time establish;

(u) that the owners, management and membership of the organisation shall consist only of individuals and shall not include legal persons or other legal entities.

(3) Every organisation as referred to in sub-article (1) shall be allowed to distribute unsterilized seeds of the plant cannabis to its members in sealed packets, with regard to the shape and presentation of which paragraph (m) of sub-article

(2) shall apply, in a total quantity of not more mutatis mutandis that twenty seeds per calendar month to each member.

(4) Any person or organisation who permits a person under the age of eighteen (18) years to be present in premises managed by an organisation as referred to in sub-article (1), shall be guilty of an offence under this Act and shall be liable, on conviction, to a fine (multa) of not less than three thousand euro (€3,000) and not more than ten thousand euro (€10,000).

(5) The Minister responsible for the Authority on the Responsible Use of Cannabis Act may make regulations for the better implementation of the provisions of this article and, without prejudice to the generality of the aforesaid, such regulations may also provide for:

(a) the manner in which and the reasons for which any authorisation, permission or licence related to the provisions of this article shall be issued and be made subject to other conditions;

(b) in the case of a breach of article 7A or regulations made thereunder, the manner in which any authorisation, permission or licence may be withdrawn or suspended;

(c) the fees payable in respect of any authorisation, permit or licence after consultation with the Minister responsible for finance;

(d) the manner in which organisations are to be administered and managed and the measures that may be taken by the Authority on the Responsible Use of Cannabis to provide for the administration of organisations in extraordinary circumstances;

(e) the fines (multa) to which a person or organisation referred to in sub-article (1) or any other person or organisation who fails to observe the law, which shall amount to a fine (multa) of fifty thousand euro (€50,000), or double the value of the proceeds resulting from the offence, whichever is the higher, so however that one-half (1/2) of such amount shall be considered as a civil debt owed and payable to the Authority on the Responsible Use of Cannabis in respect of which there is an executive title.

(6) Any organisation as referred to in sub-article (1) and every member thereof which in their activities abide by the provisions of this article and any regulations, conditions or orders issued thereunder shall be tolerated in their activity within the limits of what is provided in this article and they shall be exempt from being made subject to proceedings under this Act or under the drug laws for anything done by them in accordance with this article.