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

The decision by the Government to delay a citizens' assembly on drug use is an affront to the debate. How any Government can prioritise a directly elected mayor over the urgent debate on drug use is beyond comprehension. Let us provide the context. This issue has been delayed for decades while thousands of people die and rot. The assembly that should be in the dock is not the citizens' assembly, but rather this assembly. This assembly has for decades let communities rot. Thousands of people would be alive today if it was not for the antiquated laws around drug use.

Most of those people do not have a voice, but we are giving them a voice today. They have been denied a voice. We are so frustrated. Many of us who want to bring debate further on have been left very frustrated, to say the least. A different approach to drug use has worked in other jurisdictions. We are talking about people who should be alive today. A model that saves lives is in place in Portugal. It has taken a different approach to drug use since 2001. Why would we want to criminalise people who want to use drugs?

It is like sending people to jail because they have a dependency on alcohol. It does not make sense. We need a different approach. There are elements in this Government that do not want any progress at all. There are elements that want progress, but there are backward elements in Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil who have no interest in this issue at all. They want to see people rot, die and be decrepit because they are happy with the status quo. I am cynical about this. Even if recommendations come back from the citizens' assembly, I do not think this Government has the stomach to change the laws on drug use.

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