Ms Anna Quigley:

It is great to find one's self in a room with people who are in agreement with oneself and making all the same points. It makes life a lot simpler. As Mr. Pat Carey said earlier, this discussion would not have happened a few years ago. I am here on behalf of the CityWide Drugs Crisis Campaign, which is a network of community-based organisations involved in dealing with the drugs issue, initially across Dublin but now across the country. We have not yet got around to changing our name. Twenty years ago, when we started working in communities, people locally were looking for a law and order approach to this issue. They were very clear about that. Even three or four years ago, we in CityWide would not have been debating the issue of decriminalisation and we certainly would not have had the vast majority of our groups in favour of it, which we do now.

There are two key changes that have taken place. First, there is now a clarity about what we mean by "decriminalisation," which is to say there is a very clear distinction between decriminalisation and legalisation. It is interesting to look back to what was happening 20 years ago. Anyone who was around then will remember the street campaign whose slogan was "Addicts, we care; pushers beware." Even 20 years ago, people were saying that. We find that when we ask people, "Do you think a person should be deemed a criminal because he or she uses a drug?", the vast majority say, "No, we do not." That is what we mean by decriminalisation - that we do not make a person a criminal because of his or her use of a drug. It is not about drugs becoming legal; that clear distinction is well understood.

The other thing that has had a huge impact in changing people's minds is, as other speakers referred to, greater awareness about the impact of decriminalisation. As part of our role nationally, we represent the Family Support Network and service users' network on national committees, as they do not have their own representation. They report very clearly to us the stigma that is involved in being a criminal because of one's drug use, along with all the other things that go along with that. Other speakers today referred to issues around employment and the barriers to work for people with a drug conviction. One particular issue that is very relevant to the community sector is the increase in the prevalence of Garda vetting. One cannot get a job of any description across social services, community services or voluntary services unless one receives Garda vetting clearance. A lot of people we deal with will not even bother applying for clearance because they are convinced that if they have drug possession on their form, their application will not even be considered. That is a very significant issue.

Several speakers referred to the concern many people have that decriminalising drug users will mean more people are more likely to use drugs. However, evidence from the close to 30 countries that have introduced some form of decriminalisation does not back up that concern.

These countries have decriminalised drug use for very different reasons. In Germany a case was brought to the federal court and the position was found to be unconstitutional under privacy laws. In the Czech Republic they have done it for cost-efficiency reasons. There are various different systems, but across the board no significant increase in drug use has been shown as a result. It is important to make that point.

Portugal has been discussed a good deal. The best thing about the Portuguese model is that those responsible do not over-claim for it. They do not say decriminalisation is going to solve the drug problem. What they say is that decriminalisation is one element of the drug policy. That is crucial. One of the issues raised by people who are concerned about decriminalisation is that the change would send a message, particularly to young people, that it is okay to misuse drugs. In fact, the Portuguese system does not do that. There is a clear intervention. The key point is that the intervention is now taking place in the public health area rather than the criminal justice area.

There is another key aspect relating to Portugal. Decriminalisation is not an answer of itself and it is not going to address all the issues we have discussed. Some key points identified in Portugal chime with what we already know from the Irish experience. They are worth reiterating because to some extent they have been forgotten. First, services have been mentioned and they are crucial. In the Portuguese set-up there is access to social work, social services and psychologists. These are services we can only dream about. Our level of services is a major issue. That point has been made already.

Another point relates to inter-agency working. We cannot provide a range of services without inter-agency co-operation. We know that. Indeed, our whole drug strategy is based on that. We have said in a number of forums recently that inter-agency working is no longer supported in our system. It is occurring less and less, and we are going back to silo thinking. This will be an essential part of the package if we are going to decriminalise drug use. The services must be organised on an inter-agency basis.

Another key aspect of the set-up in Portugal is the leadership. I can never remember the title, but they have a director whose job is to ensure co-ordination and co-operation. There has been a lack of leadership in Ireland in recent times. You mentioned earlier, Chairman, about the new Minister of State. We have a Minister of State who is leading strongly on the matter, but we do not have someone in a position on a day-to-day basis to follow up on inter-agency co-operation. There is a major gap and it needs to be addressed.

The final aspect from Portugal is another thing we already know but have forgotten. It relates to the connection between drug use, disadvantage and poverty, and the point that the underlying issues need to be addressed. We should look at introducing decriminalisation and we should use the opportunity to effectively reinvigorate the drug strategy. We already have all the principles in our strategy, but in recent years we have not seen them operating. This would be a great opportunity to try to invigorate and return to the principles that have been effective in the past.