Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Unfortunately, it is not on our work programme at the moment. I accept the legislation is very new. Prior to the enactment of the Bill I tabled a number of amendments. The Bill provides primarily for motoring offences and minor convictions but, given the current debate on drugs for personal use we are moving away from a criminal justice model to a public health model for dealing with addiction. Unfortunately, if a young person, or someone who is not so young, is convicted of possession for personal use - I refer to very small amounts - the conviction hangs over the individual for the rest of his or her days. I would like to see any review take into account the fact that we are now moving to a new public health model in terms of drug use.

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