Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I also thank Deputy Ó Ríordáin and the Labour Party for bringing forward this motion. Over the past 25 years, almost ten people a week have died in the State as a result of drug taking. Along with Sweden, Ireland has the joint highest rate of drug-induced deaths among those aged 16 to 64 years in the European Union. Deputy Martin Kenny already mentioned that.

The harmful affects of drug abuse, including crimes of violence, intimidation and extortion of addicts, their families and communities used to be confined to the inner city and working-class suburbs. Now the effect is felt in all our rural towns and villages. Sinn Féin believes that harm reduction and prevention should be the guiding principles in the development of future drug and alcohol strategies. Our alternative budget pledged over ten times the amount proposed by the Government, €45 million compared with a paltry €4 million. The Government's policies on drugs are not working because of its indifference or, worse, its negligence. The national drug strategy is a list of missed targets despite the best efforts of the various agencies. Deputy Martin Kenny also mentioned how Sinn Féin has called for a citizens' assembly to discuss this issue. We supported the introduction of the medicinal cannabis compassionate access programme because we want those patients who can safely benefit from cannabis-based treatments to do so.

We believe this programme must be reviewed and extended to include the widest appropriate range of medical conditions, including chronic pain.

The number of people prosecuted for possession for personal use has increased almost fivefold over the past 25 years, with more than 250,000 convictions in this category. We need to focus on treating addiction as a healthcare issue first. We need to treat the root causes of drug abuse. It is no accident that the effects are felt more deeply in working-class areas, which are suffering from years of Government neglect and where there is little to occupy idle hands. In these areas, the rate of leaving certificate completion has dropped significantly, never mind getting inside the door of a third level institution. The lack of education results in a vicious circle involving imprisonment. The stigma associated with having been imprisoned leads to difficulties in securing employment and, as a result, to even more prison time. We need to break the cycle of intergenerational incarceration and support those in prison to free themselves from addiction and educate themselves so they can remain free from both prison and addiction.

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