Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Gino Kenny and People Before Profit for introducing the Misuse of Drugs (Cannabis Regulation) Bill 2022. I welcome this Bill and I will be supporting it. I also welcome the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use report released last week. The citizens' assembly report has given the Government a mandate to move this country's national drug policy away from a focus on punishment and criminalisation and into line with international best practice, a health and community-led approach and decriminalisation.

What is clear from the 36 recommendations the citizens' assembly has made is that there is an acceptance that the current approach is not working. It does not work for reducing drug use or for the communities affected by drug use. The policies of prohibition and punishment compound the effects that addiction and drug misuse have on individuals and communities.

The report accepts that drug misuse is not a single issue or a justice issue.

It is a complex issue that works in conjunction with other health and socioeconomic issues. I welcome the recommendations in the report that reflect this and call for a wider socioeconomic approach. Drugs misuse and addiction treatment must be approached in a way that reflects this complexity and intervenes in all aspects, including health, social, economic and community factors.

This is a simple Bill. It does not call for the legalisation or decriminalisation of cannabis. It simply removes the onus to prosecute someone for holding a small amount of cannabis for personal use. There is no need to criminalise someone for having 7 g of cannabis. There is no need for a prison sentence or for someone's current or future employment or housing situation to be put at risk. The Bill provides for exactly what the citizens' assembly has called for, which is to move away from harsh treatment for minor drug possession and target the real problems that underline drugs misuse. We do not need the Government's amendment that proposes to kick the can down the road for nine months. Anyone who has read the citizens' assembly report can see this Bill clearly follows its recommendations. Prosecuting someone for holding up to 7 g of cannabis does not target the gangs importing and selling drugs. It does not end the poverty and deprivation that underline much drug misuse. It does nothing for mental health supports, it does not help communities and it does not help families dealing with drugs misuse. It does not even stop drugs misuse.

I welcome the indication by the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, that there will be increased funding for drug treatment. That is great but if she has any interest in ending drugs misuse, we need to target the reasons people end up misusing drugs and with addiction problems. Child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, are falling apart, there is no real adult mental health system to talk of and our housing system is causing mass immiseration. In 2022, we had a poverty rate of 13.1%, which equates to more than 650,000 people. These are the issues we need to tackle. The Government is failing to uphold basic living standards in this county, from housing to wages to health and mental health. These are the issues that underline huge amounts of drugs misuse and addiction. That is what the citizens' assembly report means when it talks about a wider socioeconomic strategy. We need to see real improvements in people's lives and the supports they need to access.

The Bill should be the first step in moving to the decriminalisation of all drugs for personal use, just as the assembly has called for. That approach needs to be accompanied by a health- and community-led national drug policy. We need a committee headed by the Taoiseach to oversee this move. Will the Government support that recommendation by the citizens' assembly?

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