Paul McAuliffe: Decriminalising drugs would be an empathetic and pragmatic solution
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Government last week gave approval for a Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use to be held this year with the work of the assembly commencing in April. This is an important step in having a difficult conversation for Irish society.
In an attempt to encourage this start the conversation, Fianna Fáil produced a three part podcast series, Drugs and Ireland in which I examined drug use in Ireland and heard from people with a range of different opinions on the issue. My colleague Deputy James Lawless recently chaired the Joint Committee on Justice report on the present approach to sanctions for possession of certain amounts of drugs for personal use.
The committee’s report is cross party and contains a number of recommendations. At the heart of those recommendations is that the cross party committee acknowledges the harms associated with the current criminal justice led approach to drug use. Furthermore it acknowledges the need to move to a health led approach to drug use which recognises the role that poverty, inequality, mental health and trauma can play in the prevalence of problematic drug use.
This is evidence that across the Oireachtas there is wide scale endorsement for changing our current model of treating drug abuse. However, across the Oireachtas there are also many different views on what a new model would look like. The Oireachtas Justice Committee’s report recommends that steps are taken to introduce a regulatory model for certain drugs. This in essence would be legalisation of certain drugs. I’ve no doubt this will be a step too far for some people and perhaps we must first convince people of the merit of working towards decrimalisation of the person rather than legalizing the substance. The key result of opening this conversation must be reaching a point where those with problem drug use and addiction are at the heart of our approach, and that we fund and resource treatment services adequately.
I’ve been dealing with issues surrounding drug abuse since I began representing Dublin North West over 14 years ago. In that time I’ve sat at local drug task forces and seen the opinions of brilliant community workers change over that time. They know better than anyone that our current approach to drug use isn’t working. The majority of community activists and practitioners working within drug treatment services that I interact with believe strongly that we must move to a full decriminalisation of the person.
This would mean the removal of criminal penalties for drug use and possession. This means that individuals will not face criminal sanction for possessing a small amount of drugs for personal use. Instead, they may be subjected to a civil sanciton such as administrative penalties and redirected to drug treatment services or given information on the dangers associated with drug use. This policy is aimed at reducing the burden on the criminal justice system and reducing the harm caused by the criminalisation of drug users.
It does not mean that drug use is legal and it is certainly not the state endorsing drug use. It is simply the state being pragmatic to the situation. Under a decriminalisation model, we wouldn’t punish the drug user or drug addict, we would take a holistic approach and support them to learn about the dangers of drug use or recover from drug addiction.
I know these ideas can be challenging for people who maybe haven’t experienced a family member, friend, neighbour or colleague suffer from drug abuse. However, ask yourself if your child was affected by drug abuse would you want to see them dealt with within the criminal justice system or treated for the health condition that they have? By educating people on these issues, by acknowledging that addiction is an illness, we can bring people with us in this conversation.
The upcoming Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use will give 100 members of the public the chance to hear from experts and community groups regarding any potential changes to our current model of dealing with drug abuse. Following the work of the assembly, it will then be down to politicians from across the divide to make brave decisions regarding what is best for some of the most vulnerable in our society. There’s no doubt this issue has the potential to be divisive. We as legislators have an important job to not only make difficult decisions but to bring people with us in deciding the best way forward.
Irish society has taken a compassionate and empathetic approach to difficult conversations over the past decade. Making legislative changes to ensure those suffering from drug addiction are sufficiently supported to overcome their addiction and trauma will require that same compassion and empathy.