Results 2,621-2,640 of 5,902 for speaker:James Lawless

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Sanctions for the Possession of Certain Amounts of Drugs for Personal Use: Discussion (12 Jul 2022)

James Lawless: I thank Mr. Condon and welcome Dr. Capaz. I thank him for joining us. Dr. Capaz has three minutes to make his opening remarks.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Sanctions for the Possession of Certain Amounts of Drugs for Personal Use: Discussion (12 Jul 2022)

James Lawless: I thank Dr. Capaz. He is the first to come in under his time. He will have plenty of opportunities to engage as the meeting goes on. Next we will go around the table and take members of the committee with questions and points to share. I call Senator Ward. He will be followed by Senator Ruane.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Sanctions for the Possession of Certain Amounts of Drugs for Personal Use: Discussion (12 Jul 2022)

James Lawless: Was that addressed to any particular witness?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Sanctions for the Possession of Certain Amounts of Drugs for Personal Use: Discussion (12 Jul 2022)

James Lawless: I will bring in Mr. Minish because he has his hand up to reply. We will then move on to the next member.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Sanctions for the Possession of Certain Amounts of Drugs for Personal Use: Discussion (12 Jul 2022)

James Lawless: Did Mr. Minish use the phrase "plant based"?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Sanctions for the Possession of Certain Amounts of Drugs for Personal Use: Discussion (12 Jul 2022)

James Lawless: In order that we are all on the same page, how does Mr. Minish define plant-based drugs?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Sanctions for the Possession of Certain Amounts of Drugs for Personal Use: Discussion (12 Jul 2022)

James Lawless: I thought intuitively that might be what you meant. I can see that cannabis herb and mushrooms are plant based. Opiates are plant-based, but they are processed. Where would you draw a line in terms of that distinction? Are you referring to things which can be sourced in a relatively pure form, as opposed to things that have a chemical element or are processed?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Sanctions for the Possession of Certain Amounts of Drugs for Personal Use: Discussion (12 Jul 2022)

James Lawless: With things like peyote and mescaline, people use all sorts of different native substances.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Sanctions for the Possession of Certain Amounts of Drugs for Personal Use: Discussion (12 Jul 2022)

James Lawless: We will move on to the next round. The next member to speak is Senator Ruane. As with the last round, she will have seven minutes, which includes questions and answers.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Sanctions for the Possession of Certain Amounts of Drugs for Personal Use: Discussion (12 Jul 2022)

James Lawless: Dr. Capaz mentioned that addiction is not chemical. Does he see addiction as psychological?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Sanctions for the Possession of Certain Amounts of Drugs for Personal Use: Discussion (12 Jul 2022)

James Lawless: Thank you. I want to give an indication to the members of the running order. We are going to take Deputy Martin Kenny in a moment, followed by Deputy Costello and then Deputy Gino Kenny. We might have a second round then as needed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Sanctions for the Possession of Certain Amounts of Drugs for Personal Use: Discussion (12 Jul 2022)

James Lawless: That concludes the Deputy's time slot, but Mr. Minish wanted to speak before we move on to the next member.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Sanctions for the Possession of Certain Amounts of Drugs for Personal Use: Discussion (12 Jul 2022)

James Lawless: Senator, you will have your chance when we do the next round.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Sanctions for the Possession of Certain Amounts of Drugs for Personal Use: Discussion (12 Jul 2022)

James Lawless: I will move on to the next speaker. I see people shaking their heads. That is part of the process here. We have a debate and people express their opinions. They are entitled to do so. Other people may have different opinions and are equally entitled to express them. Deputy Costello has the floor.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Sanctions for the Possession of Certain Amounts of Drugs for Personal Use: Discussion (12 Jul 2022)

James Lawless: I thank Deputy Costello and I welcome Deputy Gino Kenny. He has seven minutes to put his questions and comments.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Sanctions for the Possession of Certain Amounts of Drugs for Personal Use: Discussion (12 Jul 2022)

James Lawless: I know Dr. McGovern made the point in a rhetorical sense, but we are not doing the same that we have always done. That is why we are here today; to have the discussion to see where we should go next.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Sanctions for the Possession of Certain Amounts of Drugs for Personal Use: Discussion (12 Jul 2022)

James Lawless: We are out of time for this block, so we will not have time for a question-and-answer session between witnesses.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Sanctions for the Possession of Certain Amounts of Drugs for Personal Use: Discussion (12 Jul 2022)

James Lawless: That concludes the round. I will invite members to come in a second time if they wish. Before that, I will take the opportunity to put my own questions. We have touched on this matter already but something that often comes to mind is that there is a drug which many enjoy socially, and have it with friends and family, at licensed premises and at home. A small minority struggle with it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Sanctions for the Possession of Certain Amounts of Drugs for Personal Use: Discussion (12 Jul 2022)

James Lawless: To what extent is it an accident of history? At one stage, opium dens were popular in polite society and cocaine, according to Sherlock Holmes, was frequently used in Baker Street and other places. Maybe there were economic, trade or political reasons that some substances were bad and some were not.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Sanctions for the Possession of Certain Amounts of Drugs for Personal Use: Discussion (12 Jul 2022)

James Lawless: Witnesses may feel free to disagree on different points. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I have another question that arises from something Mr. Minish said earlier. It was an interesting observation on plant-based substances. Is there an argument for considering materials that grow organically in the ground whether mushrooms, as he suggested, a herb or weed, rather than something...