Professor Bobby Smyth:

The question was if criminalisation impacts access to treatment. I fully agree with Dr. McGovern when he said people who use heroine are viewed completely differently, from a stigma perspective, from users of other substances. There is a clue in that in terms of the relationship between the illegal status of a drug and the stigma associated with it. All drugs are illegal but people who use cannabis have a very stigmatised attitude towards people who use heroine. Professor Jamie Saris from Maynooth University conducted research where he interviewed people at all levels within the drug use and supply network and what he found was a remarkable degree of stigma held by drug dealers. They are clearly involved in an activity you would imagine should carry more stigma than any in the general population but their view of people who used heroine was phenomenally negative. The stigma tends to be associated with the drug. That is not to do with its illegal status. It is to do with the degree of risk other people see associated with that particular behaviour. There is huge stigma associated with alcohol dependence. Dr. McGovern talked about people being reluctant to access methadone treatment within their own neighbourhood. Dr. Gallagher might talk to the issues of alcohol treatment in adults. People who are alcohol dependent are often reluctant to access treatment in their own area because there is a stigma associated with being addicted and having an addiction. To say stigma is as simple as being linked solely to just the illegal status of a drug is grossly simplistic.

There is a sense that many people who use drugs are at very high risk of convictions. I work with and meet hundreds of young people annually who use drugs and who access our service. I honestly cannot think of the last time I met a young person, under 18 years of age as that is the primary age group I work with, who had a drug possession conviction. I remember someone worried about it years ago but not in recent years. An Garda Síochána seems to have a lot of discretion, certainly for those under 18. At most people get a JLO but generally just a caution.