Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
OPPOSITION PARTIES HAVE argued that the government’s new approach to the personal use of drugs does not go far enough.
Fianna Fáil’s Dublin spokesperson John Lahart said that the health service needs better resources if the new approach to drug use is to succeed.
The Government today unveiled its plan to give those caught in possession of drugs a chance to seek treatment instead of being arrested on the spot.
In the first instance of being found in possession, gardaí will refer the person to health services. In the second instance, the gardaí will have discretion to issue an adult caution. Third and further offences will be treated within the criminal justice system, as is the case currently.
Addressing the media today, Health Minister Simon Harris said the “war on drugs has not worked” and said a new way of tackling problem drug use was the way forward.
“The move to a health led approach can only reduce drug deaths with adequate treatment services in place,” Lahart said.
“Rehabilitation services and the number of detox beds available to those seeking treatment for addiction or problem drug use remain grossly inadequate. So where will Gardaí be referring people?” he added.
Former drugs minister and current Labour Party Senator Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said the Government’s new approach to personal use of drugs is “destined to fail”.
Advertisement
Ó Ríordáin said that the government’s attempts to change the system has “failed abysmally”.
He said: “The Government had a once in a generation opportunity to radically change our approach to drugs policy and they have failed abysmally.
“It is absolutely ridiculous that recommendations within their own report stating that custodial sentences for drug use be abandoned have been ignored.
No matter how many ways they try to spin it, it is clear that that the Government still feel that you can police someone out of addiction. If someone is consistently found to have drugs on their possession, then that person has an addiction – using a three strikes approach feeds again into the victim-blaming model which has failed so spectacularly in the past.
“This is not a human rights-based approach. This will not save lives. It gives the appearance of compassion while pursing the same bankrupt approach which has the criminal justice system at its core.
NEW: The Government has announced significant reforms to the possession of drugs for personal use.
“No matter how progressive Fine Gael want to come across on drugs, their actions show that they just don’t get it.”
Ó Ríordáin has previously backed the decriminalisation of possession of small amounts of drugs.
The former minister cited Portugal’s approach to drugs as a possible model for Ireland. The country decriminalised the use of all drugs for personal use in 2001 – deciding to treat possession and use of small quantities as a public health issue rather than a criminal one.
As a result of the changes, the drugs remain illegal but offenders caught with them are typically given a small fine and a referral to a consultation with a medical professional.
With reporting by Dominic McGrath
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
79 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
@The Quare Fella: I don’t see the issue with it, if it had gone he’d have found another way to try get himself back into politics. It’s there you use what’s at your disposal to get ahead.
@The Quare Fella: spot on. And the fact that he wants to be next Labour part leader means he’d sell his granny to put any narrative out there to achieve this goal. A complete charlatan.
@Disabled Junkie: did I mention government? Didn’t I mention supporting it? Or did I just comment on the labour politician? Read what I said, don’t bring me into your pathetic government slant
@Mary Doyle: what about the many many people who use drugs recreationally that work and are not on social welfare? Will you ask their employers to dock their wages?
Or do you think it’s best to prey on societies most vulnerable?
@TheGreyMan: these drugs are banned for a reason, Hash cause psychosis in some people ? We do not know who ? But the wrong person that smokes hash can destroy lives. The public are very ignorant to it. I know a lot of people that smoke hash recreationly and it does no harm however but it can cause weakness in the heart as well as shizophrenia..
@Mary Doyle: probably the most stupid comment I have ever seen here. Do you honestly think that only people on social welfare take drugs? Drugs are in every fabric of society. Traces of cocaine were found in the toilets in the dail a few years back, over a dozen guards have been suspended from duty over the past 12 months for possession and use of drugs. Judges, doctors nurses , solicitors, people of all walks of life use drugs . The fact is some people like taking drugs and the feeling they get from them. That’s why a new approach is needed
@TheGreyMan: if the fella on the dole or the fella with a job are committing crime to feed a drug habit and when caught, they’re claiming free legal aid coz they’re on a low income, the money for their solicitor’s fee should be taken from their dole or wages till it’s repaid.
@Mary Doyle: really majority of drug users and I am talking about Hash, Cocaine etc are people who are employed. Lawyers are on Coke,
Heroin addiction Mary is a different issue altogether.
@my name: I’m talking about the ones who commit crime and ask for free legal, this money should be paid back to the taxpayer. Folks on well paid jobs who commit crime can afford their own solicitor. Hope that clears things up!
@Robert Phelan: having a few pints or sugary drinks are quite different to taking a line of cocaine or a smoking a joint. It is how it is taken. If take hash in tablet form there is a slower release to the bloodstream if you smoke through your lungs it hits the bloodstream faster giving a quick hit, therefore affecting the heart to beat faster. Not talking through my arse but based on fact same goes for Cocaine and Heroin. It’s the hit that is the problem.
And before you ask idiot no you cannot smoke or inject sugar or alcohol
@Square Bear: everyone is entitled to legal representation Mr Bear, doesn’t matter what your crime is. If you can’t pay for it you’re legally entitled to it
@Seán Dillon: Only when the market is a black market, if it was regulated and legalised then you don’t get the thugs and murderers, just the regulated, licensed drug dealers, a bit like the way alcohol is sold. Look up US prohibition gangsters for what happens when alcohol is made illegal and creates a black market.
@Paul O’Sullivan: your very ignorant to the actual facts!
.02 % have adverse reaction to weed/hash, the natural kind not the skunk hybrid versions
Legalize, n tax, free choice, or ban everything especially alcohol wrecks countless families
@Paul O’Sullivan: You have absolutely no idea what you are on about whatsoever. You actually can inject alcohol directly into the blood stream. Ask Stevo-O from jackass. He famously ran an I.V. full of vodka straight into his arm for a skit before.
@Paul O’Sullivan: of course you can inject sugar and alcohol, intravenous glucose is a treatment for low blood sugar and intravenous alcohol is used in alcohol withdrawal therapy.
There have also been cases of people recreationally injecting alcohol for the “high”, which can result in either instant intoxication or death, so probably not a great idea….
@Diarmuid Hunt: will just be replaced by another drug or addictive substance, what do you legalise heroin, crack cocaine, 2cp, krokodil ect where does it end? will we have a generation of drugged kids trying out drugs because of peer pressure, as you said alcohol is legalised and we have a problem there. Portugal had some success with this. However, it was not decriminalisation alone but also the emphasis on treating addiction as a medical problem. So it’s not so simple.
@Seán Dillon: I’m not denying that at all…maybe the government should look at an alternative method to deal with it, and generate tax from it..then use the funds raised to educate and treat people for drugs and drug use, all while potentially reducing crime…it sounds like a winner if it’s done right…
As soon as read the Govt proposal.I knew it was a cop out, this former minister is correct. The proposal completely ignores the UNs recommendation to adopt Portugals healthcare led policy.
The ol’ nazi blue-shirts just cannot get their limited minds around the concept that punishing someone for something as natural as altering ones own consciousness just doesn’t make sense.
@Ibhar Mac Suibhne: the ol nazi blueshirts to not give a flying fig about whether people take drugs or not. What they are scared of is losing their fogey voters who have fallen for all their propaganda.
@John Paul: you’re taking it to the extreme, a fella going up to his local for the last hour doesn’t become an aggressive zombie. I’ve seen plenty of fellas after taking a few lines of coke who do become like that.
@Square Bear: what about a fella after necking 6 or 7 red bulls with vodka?
You go stand outside any nightclub in the country, sober at 02:30 and you’ll see behaviour that if caused by any other drug than alcohol would be front page news.
Like HSE, Housing , Homelessness and on and on..
FFG have shown to be completely useless to our society .. Unless taxing drug use , their void of any solutions. Surely we expect no more at this stage. Saying that, Liebour truly ruined their time at the trough..
Failed minister and politician. Loves to be important. Well Shove your shooting up gallery for the city zoombies where the sun don’t shine. Victory for common sense and ordinary decent law abiding people
Unfortunately, consuming alcohol is socially acceptable and consuming recreational drugs like cannabis or MDMA is not. When will this change?? Both the illegal “drugs” are less harmful than the legal one. There was 12000 cases of possession for personal use in 2017, and all those future cases are now going to be directed to the HSE?! How long will one have to wait to see this HSE “expert” that could very well be hungover from the previous night as they lecture you on smoking a joint or taking a yoke! The amount of money wasted is farcical. For example, how much does it cost in time and money to process the garda who was caught with €100 worth of coke there recently? Personal possession charges should never see the inside of a courtroom. Absolutely ridiculous backward thinking as usual.
@Hank Kingsley: I’d be inclined to disagree. I think cannabis is socially acceptable. Nobody in my family or any of my friends finds it intolerable that I use it. They treat me just the same.
@Disabled Junkie: You’re lucky so. I still think that a certain generation who know nothing about drugs will throw them all in the same basket and think cannabis is as bad as harder drugs, yet alcohol is grand. At least they’re a dying breed, and future generations will not be as ignorant or easily led by propaganda.
Better than the Stone age laws already in place I guess !! Seen a guy in Court 2 months ago for possession €6 worth of Marijuana !! And you wonder why you don’t see many cops on the streets !!!!!
Lots of people mention the Portuguese model as if it is some sort of holy grail of drugs policy. I’ve been to Portugal and they have a LOT of drug dealing on the streets. To a very annoying extent. Maybe it does produce some better outcomes with regards to overdosing etc but I’d at least like it if it was acknowledged they have a pretty unpleasant level of open dealing.
@thephantomshit: They are actually trying to RIP stupid tourists because they don’t actually sell anything illegal its,all fake powder….that’s why they get away with it.
Why is the Journal giving a platform to a failed politician in a party with almost no public support to push a policy that he signally didn’t even try to bring about when he was the relevant minister in government? Did he slip the editor a tenner for some publicity? GTF Ó’Riordán, you chancer
@Liam Byrne: how come all those that declare themselves socialists have not joined the Labour party and taken it over like the socialists have in the UK.
That is what the his country needs all those people before profit or fake . Where are the true socialists in this country? The left in this country needs to organise itself or we will have the same ding dong FF/G for another 100 hundred years
@Paul O’Sullivan: no, it’s been ongoing in the background for the last 2 years at least, the publication of the report was even delayed by several months and at the end of it, FG just show their ineptitude and lack of understanding by ignoring the findings and recommendations. I expected no less from them.
Everywhere you go in Lisbon at night you approached about buying illegal drugs, so their policy has clearly not worked either
And look at Amsterdam which had a very liberal attitude to drugs use, which it rowed back on as it was attracting drug users from all over Europe. I think the approach outlined is sensible one
@Peter Byrne:
Portugal’s policy clearly has worked with huge reductions in overdoses disease etc (you know the things banning drugs was supposed to get rid of but didn’t) the stats are there to back this up.
The hawkers selling “drugs” onthe Street are scammers selling fake drugs to stupid tourists who think decriminalisation is a free for all… which it’s not.
@Peter Byrne: Amsterdam rowed back on its drug policy?
Portugals success has been measured by lives saved and damaged limitation, over dose deaths were at the highest in Europe 10+ years ago, Drug use in young people was at its highest in Europe , all this has changed to some of the lowest amount of drug deaths and lowest drug use in young people.
You’re using the outdated method to measure the success of the policy, its about saving lives.
The poor soul’s who are addicts are the ones who continue to suffer. It’s easy pickings for the Garda to make arrests And then at election time it will look like the war on crime is being won. It’s an old trick no one wins. Someone come up with something that actually helps these addicts
Labour party were in government 5 years 2011-16,they didn’t bring forward legislation,they have a hard neck criticising,they are all mouth in opposition, and useless in government.
I would recommend that anyone with opinions about this should read a book called “Good cop, bad war”. It is written by an ex undercover police officer who has spent years amongst vulnerable addicts, small time dealers and major criminals at the top of the pyramid.
A great read and insight into the reality of the drug world and his informed views on how we go forward.
Continuing to place the future health of Ireland in the hands of Simon Harris should send shivers down the spine of every Irish citizen. The decision of Leo Varadkar’s government to instruct gardai and the courts to adopt a maximum-tolerance (effectively decriminalising) approach to the possession of drugs represents a massive betrayal of the potential of Ireland and its young people.
This decision by the current government will be lamented and angrily bemoaned by the majority of citizens in towns and cities across Ireland.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is a naive man who possesses very little wisdom or maturity. He is effectively doing the bidding of the far-left of the political spectrum who want to destroy the potential of young Irish people, entrench inequality (despite their protestations to the contrary), line the streets of our cities, towns and villages with new waves of drug-addicts and damage the image of our country.
Split views over whether to move 'hugely important' Energy brief to Dept of Enterprise
Christina Finn
29 mins ago
215
1
carabao cup
Lucas Bergvall scores late winner for Tottenham in semi-final first leg tie against Liverpool
The 42
1 hr ago
2.5k
3
Dublin
Man arrested and suspected firearm seized after incident at Connolly Station in Dublin
Updated
3 hrs ago
52.5k
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 138 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 96 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 124 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 94 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 68 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 67 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 32 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 28 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 115 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 56 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 67 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 74 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 33 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 39 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 23 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 77 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 86 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 64 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 46 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 76 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 54 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say