Drug organisations urge Govt to stop criminalising personal drug use
The Government has been urged not to accept any proposals from a high-level committee that would continue to criminalise the possession of drugs for personal use.
CityWide, a national network of drug organisations, said that it would be a “shame” if Irish society continued criminalising people for what was a health and social problem. Its coordinator Anna Quigley was responding to reports in yesterday’s Irish Examiner that the State working group examining drug possession laws was thought to be favouring a diversion scheme.
The proposal being mulled over would mean that the expert body would be stopping short of recommending decriminalisation of the possession of drugs for personal use. Under a diversion scheme, possession would remain a criminal offence, but people caught with amounts deemed to be for their personal use, would be sent by gardaí for a health intervention, rather than face criminal prosecution.
Source: Irish Examiner, January 29th 2019
