Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I listened both here and in my office to many of the contributions which were constructive. There is no doubt that measures are being taken that were not taken previously. Senator Cummins's contribution, in particular, was very thoughtful. There was much in it with which I agree.

There is an issue at the core of this debate which has not been discussed. For the past 25 years Members of these Houses have been talking about the drugs problem. For a long time we had two related issues to address, one of which was the gradual infiltration of our youth culture by cannabis, in particular, and, to a limited but worrying extent, ecstasy. Parallel with this — perhaps it was not wisely discussed in the same debate — was the extraordinary invasion of heroin into the poorest communities in Dublin, in particular. For a long time it was exclusively and overwhelmingly a Dublin issue. My understanding is that some of the drug gangs in Cork struck moral poses about the fact that they did not sell heroin and it somehow made them feel superior. They have got over this now that they have discovered how much money is to be made.

I am open to Members on the Government side misrepresenting the problem. To a degree, we confused the solutions by pretending that there was not a fundamental difference between a youngster who used cannabis on a regular basis and another who used heroin on a regular basis. The truth is that they are not the same. The outcomes are not likely to be the same but there is an overlap. There is no disputing the fact that some young people who started using cannabis ended up using heroin but one could go further back and discover that they all started with cigarettes or alcohol before they used any other substance. On the question of a gateway drug, it is a matter of looking through the sequence and deciding where the barrier is but there is no overwhelming argument that moving the barrier and redefining something as a gateway drug will stop anybody from taking drugs.

I do not believe in the prohibition of alcohol, for instance. It did not make any difference in the United States; in fact, it probably did more harm. On the other hand, it is not sensible to legalise the use of something that is currently illegal.

When discussing drug misuse, we need to realise the reasons illegal substances are used by various sectors of society are profoundly different. For example, I believe the overwhelming use of heroin is a consequence of extraordinary social deprivation. My party was in Government for part of the period when this became an issue, so the comment is not a party political one. There has been a sense of abandonment of communities in this city for a long number of years. A whole generation was blighted by heroin and the belief that nobody cared.

This abandonment was confirmed when these communities finally set up local campaigns against drugs. By whom they were organised or motivated is secondary. It was not that these people were naive, but as a result of the campaigns, they saw more gardaí in their communities policing the anti-drugs campaigners because of their alleged suspect political affiliations than they ever saw of the gardaí policing drug pushers. There were more gardaí in their inner city communities because of the anti-drugs campaigners. It is possible that a significant number of those involved in the anti-drugs campaigns had less than noble motives. However, it is a fact that in the perception of the communities with most victims, there was more visible police activity regulating, controlling and policing the anti-drugs campaigns than ever regulated, policed and controlled the drug pushers.

There was a story in this morning's newspapers about a well known Dublin city drug pusher. This man absconded from prison when serving a long sentence. Deputy Gregory, who represents the inner city, said everybody knew where he was living long before he was arrested. However, despite having absconded once, when he was rearrested, he was returned to an open prison, Shelton Abbey. I do not know what sort of check is made on the type of person suited to an open prison, but a person who absconded when on three days compassionate leave and who was missing for months is not the obvious choice. This situation is heartbreaking for communities where such individuals are seen as the source of so much evil. This is one side of the drug problem and the Minister of State adverted to the fact that serious resources are being provided to try to deal with it.

There is another issue of concern, one that used to manifest in cannabis abuse. When I was of an age when a culture existed where cannabis was widely used — when I was a student — the overwhelming group of those who used cannabis on an intermittent basis were aware of a reasonable balance between the risks they took and their reason for using the drug. They also had a genuine belief that intermittent use was not a serious health risk. They may have been wrong, but theirs was a conscious and rational decision. What I find disturbing now is the increasing use of cocaine, the harmful effects of which are not in any doubt. Nobody would argue that there is not a serious health or addiction risk or the risk of a serious personality disorder attached to its regular use.

The generation that used cannabis made a reasonably rational decision to do so. However, I cannot see how it is possible to make a rational decision to use cocaine on a regular basis. We should be disturbed that this decision is being made by the best educated generation we have ever had. It is a generation with more access to knowledge, information and money, yet it seems to have abandoned any element of rationality in the area of substance use, including its attitude to alcohol.

Some people think it funny that I have often mentioned that in my life I never set out to get drunk. I often ended up drunk, but I never set out to get drunk. I set out to enjoy myself and the consequence was I drank more than I should. I am not alone in that. It is disturbing that nowadays a significant number of comparatively well off, well educated young people's idea of a night out is to set out to get drunk. If they remember what they did for the night, they are convinced they did not have a great time.

It is very disturbing that this culture of obliviousness to the consequence of one's actions is manifest in our society. There is a sense that it does not matter that one is doing one's self profound physical damage in one's 20s, when one should be looking forward to what life has to offer. Many of our young people who are well off financially and in good jobs, deliberately and knowingly practise a lifestyle which will do them serious harm. This is an issue we need to address in terms of abuse of drugs.

If 20% of people are indifferent to their long-term health and to their short-term security, they will not be concerned about whether they end up in prison. It appears to me that their sense of life values is vastly different from ours. The inconvenience of being caught does not trouble them and they will not be deterred by penalties. These people know what the penalties are because they are well informed. The situation for them is different than for others such as drug pushers. The greatest deterrent for all criminals is the likelihood of being caught, rather than whether the penalty is five, six or ten years in prison.

What future strategy should we develop on drugs? We, the older generation, all believed somewhat naively that if we gave people information early about drugs, they would not act stupidly. Unfortunately, we have considerable evidence that people are acting stupidly, even though they know how much harm they will do to themselves. Normally I head back to Cork early on a Thursday, but I stayed late today because I want debate on this issue to begin. What is happening in the minds of a large section of the population between the ages of 20 to 35? They are not poor or deprived, but have grown up in considerable privilege and have well paid jobs.

These young people have developed a kind of hedonistic obliviousness. I am quite an enthusiast for hedonism, provided people are doing what they enjoy and understand what they are doing. However, this is a kind of oblivious hedonism. It is a sense that there is no future and that nothing matters, not even life. I believe this attitude spills over in its extreme case into our suicide epidemic. Something has happened to the mentality of some of our young people which has nothing to do with protest, experiment or amusement. It has to do with a sense of obliviousness and a sense that life is pointless, meaningless and worthless and that we might as well act this way because there is nothing more worth doing.

My contribution may not be as constructive as Senator Cummins's was, but it comes from my genuinely serious concern for the future of Irish society. I am concerned about why we have this new manifestation of what is apparently widespread, middle class abuse of an inherently profoundly dangerous substance.