After Irish MPs postponed a vote earlier this year in favor of further consideration of the marijuana legalization issue, the Select Legislative Committee on Drug Policy has published an interim report containing nearly 60 recommendations. They called for changes such as limited legalization and regulation of marijuana. Decriminalize personal use and possession of all illegal drugs.
The new report, published on Tuesday, is the result of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Drug Use. The commission was established to consider cannabis legalization and other drug policy issues following the release of a citizens' committee report in January that recommended widespread drug decriminalization and harm enforcement. Ta. reduction program.
Gino Kenny, chairman of the committee and member of the Irish House of Commons, told the Irish Examiner that the proposal would allow cannabis clubs, which would allow members to purchase small quantities of marijuana grown on a non-commercial basis, to be used in other European countries. He said there was a possibility that he would approve. Broader commercial legalization may also become possible.
“It's important that we do this,” Mr Kenny told the newspaper, stressing his view that the government should take a “health-led approach” to drug use.
Today, the Joint Committee on Drug Use released an interim report containing 59 recommendations. This committee was established to investigate and respond to the National Assembly's response to drug use in Ireland. View the report here: https://t.co/EKWwNrNjXH #see for yourself https://t.co/tchnT83mrC pic.twitter.com/2q6krO0FFX
— House of the Oireachtas – Oireachtas Tithe (@OireachtasNews) October 22, 2024
Indeed, many of the task force's 59 recommendations focus on changing the paradigm around drug regulation from issues of punishment and stigma to issues of health and harm reduction. This is at the heart of the first six recommendations set out in the Commission's Interim Report Explanation, including that “the stigmatization of drug use and the shame of drug users is a source of serious harm.'' The findings include: “The goals of drug policy are to:''. It is important to reduce harm and eliminate stigma. ”
To that end, the report states that “decriminalization of possession for personal use should apply equally to all illegal drugs.” It added that while “people should be provided with all the support and medical resources they need,” they “should not be criminalized for not taking advantage of supportive interventions.”
Regarding marijuana, the Commission asked health and justice stakeholders to: “We are calling for a series of studies to be undertaken on how this knowledge can be incorporated and put into practice.” We have taken positive steps in this regard. ”
The report specifies that the country should consider reforms “in the development of Ireland's not-for-profit regulated cannabis market, with particular reference to Spain, Malta and Germany”.
The group is also calling for an expansion of the national medical cannabis program “to ensure that more people with chronic conditions have access to cannabis in situations where other treatments have failed to provide relief.” .
Today, the Joint Committee on Drug Use released its interim report. It makes a number of important recommendations and carefully considers the findings of the Citizens' Assembly. Some of the key points – Repeal of Section 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act – Not-for-profit regulated cannabis market. pic.twitter.com/kMPRBK4sXJ
— Gino Kenny TD (@Ginosocialist) October 22, 2024
The recommendation also recommends that local authorities and An Garda Shochana (the country's national police force) “support and empower them to strongly discourage and reduce consumption in public places”. The committee recommended “providing specific trauma and harm reduction training to An Garda Síochána and local authorities to inform their work with individuals and communities affected by substance abuse and addiction” .
Committee chairman Kenney said the group's recommendations were “very clear that the supply and sale of drugs should remain illegal” and that drugs should be used to protect individuals, families and communities, especially It acknowledged it could cause “significant harm” to already disadvantaged groups. But he said the committee generally agreed that criminalizing drugs was the wrong approach.
“Of course there is still much to consider, but it is clear through the work of the commission and the Citizens' Assembly that there is a consensus that criminalizing and prosecuting personal drug use is a waste of money. It is extremely harmful to those who receive it,” he said in a statement.
After months of research, he added: “There is no excuse for the new government to say that the issue of decriminalizing drugs for personal use has not been properly discussed. The Citizens' Assembly and the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Drug Use have no excuse. is considering this issue in detail.”
Ryan McHale, executive director of Irish drug policy reform group Crain, told Marijuana Moment that when the commission was first established, he felt the additional measures were “a delaying tactic by the Irish government.” A clear demand from the citizens' assembly and overwhelming public support for this measure. ”
“The government knows there is overwhelming support, which is why it did not oppose the bill outright as it did in 2013, the last attempt to liberalize cannabis laws,” McHale said. Ta. “Although the government appears to be changing its tune when it comes to changing drug laws in Ireland, it has yet to commit to any substantive legal reform.”
“This delay means that hundreds of people will be criminalized for personal possession of cannabis while the Irish government mulls over the political effectiveness of the reforms,” he added. “We can wait no longer. The Citizens' Assembly has made clear its commitment to change the harmful status quo.”
🚨Please read carefully the report of the Pharmaceutical Committee
✅Complete decriminalization
✅Non-commercial cannabis regulations
Read below 👇https://t.co/23BOFu3VQu
— Crainn (@r_crainn) October 22, 2024
TD Paul Murphy said the Government's proposed delay was “simply an attempt to defeat the plan”.
“They're talking about a health-led approach to drugs,” he says. “Now it's time to take a walk.”
Kenney's cannabis legalization bill, which led to the commission's creation, was first introduced in 2022.
Ireland's Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, told MPs earlier this year that he agreed that prohibition did not work, as the period of prohibition in Ireland had created an illegal market for “impure” alcohol products. Then he said.
“In my view, drug use and misuse by individuals should be seen primarily as a public health issue rather than a criminal justice issue,” Mr Varadkar said. “I certainly think that shaming people, blaming people, criminalizing people is not an effective policy.”
The Citizens Council on Drug Use considered marijuana legalization as part of its work last year, but came up one vote short on recommending enacting reform.
A year ago, citizen groups posted a summary of 36 policy recommendations online. The group's chairman, Paul Reid, called it “the culmination of the most comprehensive, wide-ranging and representative debate on all aspects of drug use and drug policy”. This has happened before in Ireland. ”
Mr Reid said in a statement at the time that the group's overarching message was that MPs “need to take a more ambitious and progressive approach to fighting drugs in Ireland”.
“Ultimately it is up to the Oireachtas to do what they have asked for,” he said, referring to the Irish Parliament. “But if that happens, not only will the country's policies and approaches change, but people's lives will change too. For the better.”
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Image elements courtesy of Ron Cogswell.
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