Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

No doubt the communities which have been ravaged by crime and addiction have been clamouring for a number of the measures in this Bill to be implemented out of desperation at the blight that has been imposed on their communities which see the most vulnerable exploited by those who want to profit from their misery. The support for these measures comes out of desperation and we must stand back. I understand people saying that we need to bring this in now and then we can look at the bigger picture and tack on policies later, but we cannot put off that debate. We must change our approach now.

The very fact that we are even looking at a Bill which lengthens a list of medication to add to another list of medication that is already prohibited is an indication that this type of approach sadly does not work because the reality is that people with addictions will find other drugs.

If we add to the list, in a couple of weeks there will be another list and some other concoction within reach after that. These people will find other ways to get high using whatever means are available. In many ways, it could be argued that lengthening the list increases the risks associated with drug abuse. All of us would agree that drugs destroy lives and communities - that is unquestionable - but so does bad policy, unemployment, cutting funding to schools and closing crèches, libraries, swimming pools and so on. We must look at the big picture. Sadly, criminalising people and demonising working class communities does not work either. There is no doubt these measures are going to be implemented in working class communities as economic and social problems are a factor.

This morning, a couple of us had the privilege of going to Cloverhill Prison where we met some offenders involved with a really innovative and internationally award-winning programme with the International Red Cross. It deals with a community-based health care model, with prisoners delivering it in the prison community, working in close conjunction with medical and prison staff in the facility. We should certainly try to get them to come here and give a presentation in the Oireachtas as all the people ended up in there, one way or another, through drug related crimes. There may have been a tragedy or something in their lives that led them to a path of drug abuse and perhaps it involved criminal behaviour such as theft etc. Their incarceration impacts on spouses or partners who may engage in crime to deal with economic issues. We must take in all these factors when we consider how to deal with drugs.

Our prison population would be entirely different if the drug issue were dealt with and we would have a fraction of the size of prison population that now exists. In that sense, the starting point for me must be a health issue rather than a criminal justice matter. There is a widespread consensus across the medical profession and those specialising in addiction that this is a disease, so we must look at dealing with stigma, reducing harm and tackling the issue as an illness. We cannot arrest ourselves out of the problem but that is really what we are doing. In an Irish context, when people are put in prison, they are being put into the path of further drug use. Sadly, drugs are rife in the prison community and we know of cases of people trying to rebuild their lives upon release who have been encouraged by dealers on the outside or by debts to which they have been tied to break the conditions of their release in order that they can return to jail loaded with drugs. People who want to move on with their life are being dragged back into the cycle because we continue to deal with this through the criminal justice system rather than giving people the opportunity to develop their full potential as citizens.

The lads we met worked very closely with staff in prison and do a really good job. They acknowledged they had done wrong in their lives and none begrudged being in prison. All of them had got to a place where they saw it as an opportunity to rebuild their lives and re-engage with the community and society. That is what we should be doing. We must treat people as people, give them respect and understand their humanity and dignity. That is a far better approach.

One might look at this Bill and see it as an immediate issue in order that we can deal with the bigger picture afterwards, but that is not good enough. With these regulations we are just taking the war on drugs to a local level, criminalising the most marginalised. Sadly, it will not have any impact on the big players who live the affluent lifestyle and prey on the vulnerable. Anybody working with people with addictions or family members would agree the answer is not punishment but treatment. The Department of Health should be leading a progressive approach in this way, with education and support for programmes to combat addiction and the taking up of drugs by young people. Sadly, as the measures in the Bill are one-sided, it is a repeat of bad policy, meaning drug barons will get richer and the poor will get prison.

I again laud the Portuguese model, which we have discussed a great deal over the past while. Portugal took the steps 14 years ago to treat possession and use of small quantities of drugs as a public health issue rather than one of criminality. If somebody gets caught with a small amount of drugs in Portugal, that person will not end up in jail or with a criminal record. That is the case if a person is found with less than a ten-day supply of anything, including marijuana, heroin or anything else. The person is sent to a three-person commission for the dissuasion of drug addiction, typically comprising a lawyer, a doctor and a social worker. The commission recommends treatment or a fine or otherwise the person is sent off without a penalty.

The facts prove this approach. In 1999, nearly 1% of the Portuguese population was addicted to heroin and rates of drug related AIDS deaths were the highest in Europe. Portugal decided to decriminalise the issue in 2001 and complimented the policy with the allocation of resources to improve prevention, treatment, harm reduction and socially integrated programmes. The level of drug abuse decreased as a result and it is now below the European average. Drug use among young people has declined, along with deaths, the number of people in the courts, offenders in prison etc. We know this is not the only example and 25 other countries have removed criminal penalties for personal possession of drugs.

This could be combined with the freeing up of Garda resources, as many of the communities most afflicted would seek extra resources. It would be far better to focus on health improvements as prison does not deal with it now, despite some great programmes in the prison system. People in prison may engage with programmes that provide leadership skills and a sense of self-worth that they may never have received on the outside, but when they return outside to the same conditions they experienced before, it makes such people prey to drug abuse. It is human nature and very understandable.

This is one of a number of measures we will discuss in the House in the next period. There is no quick fix but we must be careful in implementing measures, as what we try to do with the best will in the world can sometimes end up causing more harm to some of our most vulnerable young people. It can bring them into the criminal justice system when we should be working with them to keep them out of it. It is not a case of dealing with this now and the good stuff later, as the direct experience of other countries is that we must deal with this as a health issue first, with a serious alternative and integrated approach.

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