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← Episode 7: Id-Droga f'Malta
Episode 7 · 9 November 2026 · at 55:24
The claim

The government is spending €6 million on Caritas, €600,000 on the Authority for the Responsible Use of Cannabis (ARUC) and €2.3 million on the OASI Foundation.

Karen Mamo, Drug researcher

Verdict True but lacks context

Two figures match announced funding agreements. The ARUC figure is close to one recorded government contribution. The figures cover different periods and types of funding and give only a partial picture of public support.How we reached this verdict ↓

Analysis and evaluation

All three figures can be traced to government funding, but they are not the same kind of figure. Two are the total value of multi-year agreements and one is a single year's contribution.

Figures said on air against recorded government funding Caritas: €6.0 million said, €6.0 million agreement. ARUC: €0.6 million said, €0.63 million recorded contribution in 2024. OASI: €2.3 million said, €2.3 million three-year agreement. €0m €2m €4m €6m Caritas San Blas agreement €6.0m €6.0m ARUC 2024, Economy Ministry €0.6m €0.63m OASI Three-year agreement €2.3m €2.3m
Said on airRecorded figure
The Caritas and OASI figures are agreement values spread over several years; the ARUC figure is one year's contribution through one ministry. Sources: government announcements; Ministry for Finance, Financial Estimates 2026.

What the Caritas and OASI figures cover

In June 2025, the government announced a €6 million agreement to continue and expand Caritas's rehabilitation services at San Blas. The figure is the value of that agreement. The announcement did not say how much had already been paid.

Caritas also secured a separate €3.7 million agreement over three years for the Ibwar rehabilitation centre for adolescents, bringing the two agreements to a combined €9.7 million. Establishing how much Caritas received in any one year would require the payment schedules.

A separate €4.2 million Caritas community centre project included €2.8 million in EU funding. It covered broader services and administration, so we assessed it separately from the addiction treatment agreements.

In April 2026, the government signed a €2.3 million agreement over three years with the OASI Foundation. It covers residential rehabilitation, community therapy and aftercare, and supports prevention. The €2.3 million is the commitment for the full three years.

What the €600,000 for ARUC represents

The government's financial estimates record a €627,354 contribution to ARUC through the Economy Ministry in 2024. That rounds reasonably to €600,000 and is a plausible source for Mamo's figure. The estimates record a further €181,145 through the Home Affairs Ministry, bringing the two recorded recurrent contributions for 2024 to €808,499. The government then budgeted €1 million for 2025 and €1.1 million for 2026.

Recurrent government funding for ARUC, 2024 to 2026 2024 recorded: €0.81 million. 2025 budgeted: €1.0 million. 2026 budgeted: €1.1 million. €0m €0.5m €1.0m 2024 (recorded) €0.81m 2025 (budgeted) €1.0m 2026 (budgeted) €1.1m
Recurrent government contributions to ARUC. 2024 combines the Economy and Home Affairs Ministry lines. Source: Ministry for Finance, Financial Estimates 2026.

ARUC also charges application and annual licence fees. The 2026 budget separately allocated €400,000 for cannabis education, but that line alone does not establish how much went to ARUC.

Evaluation

Mamo gave the amounts as examples of public funding, without specifying a year. Two figures match announced agreement values, and the third is consistent with rounding one recorded contribution. The figures describe selected agreements or contributions. They do not show each organisation's total public funding or allow a like-for-like comparison of annual spending. The claim is rated True but lacks context.

Editorial note

How we assessed this claim

We checked the figures against published funding announcements and the government's financial estimates.

Limitations

  • The source of Mamo's ARUC figure remains unconfirmed.
  • We did not verify any additional grant that could be added to OASI's €2.3 million agreement without risking double counting.
  • Her separate point about whether spending reduced drug-related harm would require evidence on outcomes.

Sources

  1. Ministry for Finance, Financial Estimates 2026
  2. Malta Daily, Government extends Caritas agreement with €6 million investment, 24 June 2025
  3. The Malta Independent, €3.7 million investment in rehabilitation centre for minors, 1 March 2025
  4. The Malta Independent, EU-funded projects supporting the work of Caritas Malta, 6 December 2025
  5. ARUC, Licensing Guidelines
  6. TVM News, Il-Gvern se jagħti €2.3 miljun fuq 3 snin lill-Fondazzjoni OASI, 8 April 2026