Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

This debate has been going on for years but, frustratingly, it seems to have stalled. There is much talk but no action. I am glad 14,000 submissions have been received so far in the public consultation on the law on possession of drugs for personal use. I look forward to the report being completed by October. Hopefully, the recommendations can consider some of the issues around personal drug use.

I also want to commend the critical roles played by community drug projects and local drug task forces, which continue to deliver a fantastic service in their communities, even though their budgets have been cut by 37% over the past eight years. These cuts have led to dramatic changes in what they can give to their communities. I have seen this for myself in Clondalkin.

The strategy of criminalising people for drug use has been an abject failure. There is a catchword that the war on drugs has been a failure. In fact, it has been an abject failure. It just does not work. It has failed communities and judicial systems. One must look at a radical approach to dealing with drug use and what that entails. Whether we like it, people will continue to use drugs. They used drugs generations ago and generations to come will continue to do so. Do we criminalise them? No, we should not. People found with drugs for personal use should not go through the criminal justice system because it has failed. In my community, I have seen the abuse of drugs ravage not only friends of mine but family members. I have seen whole communities destroyed. What it does to people’s mindsets acts like a cancer in communities. Words cannot articulate what drugs do and what they leave behind.

Nobody is born a heroin addict but, sometimes, addiction chooses people. When heroin gets a hold of a person, it is a difficult drug from which to get away. Some people do and others do not. Friends of mine have passed away due to heroin addiction. I know others who got away from addiction and have done very well. They have children and good jobs. Sometimes, regardless of whether we like it, drugs take hold of people. In the debate on drugs, I have always heard that cannabis is a gateway to harder drugs. That is absolute rubbish. The gateway to heroin, crack and all the drugs which bring misery, is alienation and poverty. I accept people who have chronic heroin problems probably smoked hash. However, it just does not lead on to harder drugs. I know many people who smoke cannabis but will never touch heroin, crack, cocaine and so forth. We need a radical approach in this regard.

Decriminalisation, as the previous Deputy said, decriminalises the person rather than the drugs. In 2001, Portugal decriminalised drugs for personal use. A person found with a particular drug on them for personal use will not go through the criminal justice system but will be given counselling, health-led products and assistance with harm reduction. Last year, 80% of drug-related offences in this State were for personal use, meaning 10,000 people have gone through the criminal justice system because of personal use of drugs. That is a complete waste of time for the criminal justice system and the police. The police at the front line in the war on drugs will admit that it is failing them and civil society and that we need a new approach. Decriminalisation is one approach to that.

If people who are found in possession of drugs for personal use get a criminal record, this will have a profound effect on their future job prospects. I know people who were caught 15 years ago with a small amount of cannabis but still have a drug offence record. I remember going to a festival 15 years ago at which undercover police were looking for people with a small possession of cannabis and arresting them. It was ridiculous. Obviously, civic society has moved on and we cannot criminalise people for cannabis use in particular because it is a complete waste of time. Decriminalisation of drugs is inevitable.

The Minister of State will have to look at the whole range of drugs contained in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977. Classifying cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug having no medical or recreational use is ridiculous. For example, this year the Minister for Health granted a licence for medical cannabis that involved the raw form of cannabis. It meant the person was basically granted a licence for a bag of grass. That is a fact. While I am glad the Minister granted a licence to a person in the State for the medical use of cannabis, it is classified as a Schedule 1 drug.

More controversially, all illicit drugs are controlled by criminal individuals or gangs who do extremely well out of selling drugs. They have big cars, holidays and so forth. The war on drugs has been a failure. Society must look at ways of taking drugs out of the hands of criminal gangs and individuals and to take them back. These gangs are unregulated and do not care what they sale. They sell to children, individuals die from using their drugs and communities are destroyed by them. We must look at the legalisation of some drugs. This is a nuanced argument which some people will find difficult. I also believe we will need to look at a more radical approach than decriminalisation. My starting point is whether this will save somebody's life. If it can, then it is worth approaching and looking at. At present, hundreds of people die of overdoses, use opiates or are affected by drugs.

If we can cut that by half, by any means, and if we can save one life by decriminalisation, regulation and legalisation of some drugs, we can have a different approach to this issue. We are losing the war on drugs. It should not be a war. It is a war on people.

I ask the Minister of State to comment on the points I have raised, particularly repeal of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977.

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