GPs and psychiatrists urging cabinet ministers to oppose legalisation of possession of cannabis for personal use
Bill By Forward Is Kenny Being Brought Gino People Gareth Chaney/collins The Photos Profit Before Td, Picture:
A group of leading GPs and psychiatrists has written to cabinet ministers urging them to oppose the legalisation of the possession of cannabis for personal use.
The group has also contacted party leaders and health spokespeople and members of the Joint Committee on Health ahead of a debate on Wednesday evening on the Misuse of Drugs (Cannabis Regulation) Bill 2022.
The bill is being brought forward by People Before Profit TD, Gino Kenny, and proposes allowing a person to possess up to 7g of cannabis herb, or 2.5g of cannabis resin, without a criminal sanction.
In the letter, the concerned medics said: “In public discourse about this Bill, Mr Kenny often refers to his Bill as decriminalization. This Bill proposes legalisation, not decriminalisation. Under decriminalisation, as used in countries such as Portugal, cannabis use and possession remain prohibited. Decriminalisation refers simply to a change in type of sanction, not the elimination of all sanctions and consequences.
It said in there are an estimated 45,000 people with a cannabis use disorder, mostly young men.
"Cannabis is the primary problem drug for 1,225 of the people under 25 who accessed addiction treatment in 2022 in Ireland, accounting for 40% of all treatment entrants in that age range, more than any other drug. All addictions, including cannabis addiction, affect more than the individual. They cause huge distress and upset for the family. Cannabis can also cause acute medical and mental health problems, with over three people admitted to a medical or psychiatric hospital every day in Ireland with a cannabis related diagnosis.”
The letter is signed by consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist, Professor Bobby Smyth; GP and Associate Professor in General Practice in UCD, Professor Ray Whalley; consultant in public health medicine, Dr Ina Kelly; GP addiction specialist Dr Hugh Gallagher; consultant psychiatrist and Associate Professor in General Practice in UCD, Professor Matt Sadlier, and GP lead on addictions, Dr Ide Delargy.
Wednesday’s debate comes just days after a report from the Citizens Assembly on Drugs was published, containing recommendations that the personal possession of drugs be decriminalised, while still keeping possession illegal under the law.
The medics referenced the assembly's report: "The sanctions and consequences imposed upon those who transgress a law should be reasonable and proportionate. The view of the Citizens Assembly is that drug use should remain prohibited but that the response to those who transgress the law should be a health referral. Let us move in that direction and not in the health damaging direction proposed by Mr Kenny.”