Eoghan Harris (Independent)

The Seanad, with the other House, is probably the only place where major issues can be dealt with honestly and openly. Watching "Oireachtas Report" last night, I did not think it was good that Senator Bacik was heckled while she was trying to make a difficult point. The Daily Mail has embarked on a campaign to denounce people who are soft on drugs. As one who does not drink, smoke or ingest any substances, who is more pro-life than pro-choice, and who believes in the death penalty for the shooting of police officers, I am not soft on anything like that. I have an honest opinion, however, that as long as drugs are prohibited, the criminals will flourish.

"Prime Time" last night proved that despite €320 billion being spent on the war against drugs, that war is being lost. This House is one of the few places in Ireland where all aspects of the drug mystery can be debated. It remains a mystery to most people, who do not understand the world of cannabis, cocaine, heroin and the two terrifying words the Taoiseach introduced last night — not "pay rise", but "crystal meth". Crystal meth will really test the assumptions of Members of this House on how a crackdown on crime will solve this problem. It has destroyed whole swathes of the United States but it can be made in a bucket in a back garden for a couple of cent. How will this be dealt with on a criminal basis?

As Senators Keaveney and Corrigan have pointed out, the public education side of this matter is critical. We can treat drugs fundamentally as a criminal problem or as a social and medical problem. I tend to believe it should be treated as a social and medical problem and as a matter of constant public education, of which this Seanad debate is a part. Of course the police will demand more resources; police forces, like hospitals, will always demand more resources. We should be able to debate, however, whether it is best to spend €100 on recruiting another garda to hang around drug dealers or spend it on a public education health and substance campaign. I was struck by Senator Corrigan's remarks yesterday in this regard.

All addictive substances, whether alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, heroin, cocaine or crystal meth, are bad for us. What do we do? Do we wait for them to arrive and then criminalise them or begin now to spend the bulk of our money on public education campaigns to frighten people and show them how dangerous they are and what they do to lives? This is an important debate. It should not be politicised and subject to barracking and heckling in this House. We have the leading role in public education in this country and we should be allowed to conduct this debate without it being politicised and turned into partisan bickering.