Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Today I welcome the fact that the memorandum for a citizens' assembly on drugs went to Cabinet this morning. Hopefully, over the next few weeks we will get to see what that looks like. Obviously we do not know what the terms of reference are or who will be the chairperson but given that this time last year I could barely bring myself to come into this Chamber because I felt that all of the efforts, conversations and work of drugs workers and people sharing their stories of how they are impacted by addiction in this country were going nowhere, I am happy to know that the citizens' assembly is going to happen. I am also really hopeful because there are not many subjects on which I will assume authority but I refuse not to assume authority when it comes to addiction and drugs in this country. I have dedicated my entire life to working with people who are the most ostracised because of their drug use. Obviously we have lots of drug use, in a wider sense, in all sectors of society, across all classes and professions, but the burden of the story of the hardship, poverty, mental health, drug-induced psychosis and prison has been borne by the working class. The middle class and those from more affluent areas have not had to pay the same price for drugs in this country, even though drug use is in every part of society. Communities like mine have had to carry that for a long time. In carrying that, they have been the ones to push, fight and advocate for a better response to drug use in this country.

I first worked in the drug sector at the age of 17 but I first used drugs before I had even hit my teens. I know what it is like to want to use drugs, not to completely remove oneself from this life but to temporarily take oneself away from reality. The sad thing is that some people's reality is much more painful than the drug use itself, even though over time the drug use can ultimately be the thing that causes the hardship. In the beginning, it fills a massive hole.

When we look to a citizens' assembly, we cannot only look at the substance. We also have to look at the conditions that allow people to feel so empty, helpless and hopeless that drug use literally saves them and keeps them in this world. I have buried many friends and have had to intervene in many overdoses. I have seen way too many families lose too many people due to addiction and yet, in this country, we still have media using words like "zombies" and "junkies". The word "zombie" really stays with me. It is literally non-human, devoid of consciousness and its use separates the drug user from society at large. That is how we want to see people who are addicted. We want to be able to say we are not that, we are not "them" over there but that is just so far from the truth. The fact is people have to use drugs because of the conditions we create in this country. Drug use is due to poverty and to the huge levels of trauma that are felt in so many working class communities around this country.We need to be sure that we also focus on the conditions in which people live as we move forward in how we respond to drug use through drug policy. I am eager to see how the next few months go. I wish the new Minister of State well in her job. I know she is already reaching out to and meeting many people and doing what she needs to understand the issue.