Mr. Gerard Roe:

I thank the committee for accepting our submission and for inviting us here today. BeLonG To's submission advocates in favour of altering the current approach to sanctions for the possession of a certain amount of drugs for personal use. We believe it is in the best interests of LGBT young people, and indeed all young people, that legislative change is needed to address how we treat those who are found in possession of drugs for their personal use.

Studies have revealed that drug use is widespread among LGBT young people and is more prevalent than in the general youth population. Findings from our research indicate that LGBT young people are two to five times more likely to consume drugs than their heterosexual counterparts.

Many LGBT young people experience different forms of discrimination and social exclusion, most visibly in the form of homophobic and transphobic bullying. As a result, LGBT young people are often likely to suffer from poor mental health and experience high levels of suicide ideation, self-harm and problems with alcohol and drugs use. Statistics also illustrate a correlation between mental health and drug use. With such high levels of drug use and mental health issues among this population, surely the response needs to be dealt with as a health issue rather than one of criminal justice.

From my unique position as the sole drugs worker for the LGBT community, I have seen how current practice and legislation impacts negatively on my target audience. BeLonG To is not geographically bound. The young people who seek support through our services come from all different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. In my experience, it is mostly working class young people who come into contact with the criminal justice system. They are more likely to be stopped and searched and to be found in possession of drugs for personal use and therefore most likely to be criminalised. The criminalisation of drug use often lends itself to the stigma that surrounds it. We believe that decriminalising drugs for personal use will lift the barriers and stigma surrounding drugs and drug use.

The resources used to criminalise the possession and use of drugs could then be redirected into good evidence based education, harm reduction treatment and smart campaigns.

The intention of current legislation is to outlaw and prevent people from using drugs but, as the research shows, it has not achieved this. Drug use and the availability of drugs is widespread across all sections of society. It is realistic to think that with drug use at such high levels it has now become a public health issue and should be treated as such. My local expertise is backed up by international evidence. Portugal, reacting to having one of the highest rates of drug use in Europe, decriminalised all drugs in 2001. The report of the Irish delegation to Portugal has shown that there has been significant societal impact since decriminalisation.

While it is still illegal to possess and sell drugs in Portugal, there has been a significant decrease in drug related crime, overdose, HIV and drug use, especially among the youth population. It is of no surprise that other countries are now following suit, treating drug use as a public health issue instead of one of criminal justice. International bodies such as the World Health Organisation and the European Convention on Human Rights also call for the decriminalisation.

I will conclude by saying that BeLonG To is in favour of altering Ireland's current approach to the possession of limited quantities of certain drugs. In our experience, current legislation actually prevents LGBT young people from seeking support for their drug use for fear of criminal sanction. LGBT young people are also less inclined to disclose or discuss their drug use due to the stigma that surrounds criminality, drugs and addiction. We believe that while the current legislation has been set up to outlaw and prevent drug use it has not achieved this in Ireland. International evidence has shown that the stated aims and objectives of prohibition of illegal drugs have not been successful.

We now have a unique opportunity to learn from the approach taken in Portugal and move towards a future that treats drugs users in a more humane and dignified way by addressing drug use and addiction as primarily a health issue. We need to have an effective drugs strategy that complements a new and effective drugs policy or we run the risk of continuing to fail. To quote the delegation report on the visit to Portugal, “It takes a lot to make an honest person to become a criminal”.