Minister Aodhán Ó Ríordáin promised Hot Press in May that he’d be pushing the drugs agenda as hard as possible and has duly delivered with the publication today of the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality Report of the Committee on a Harm Reducing and Rehabilitative approach to possession of small amounts of illegal drugs.
“In June 2015, a delegation of the Committee visited the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction in Portugal and engaged extensively with Portuguese authorities on the approach to drug addiction adopted there since 2001,” says Committee Chairman David Stanton T.D in the preface. “On return from Portugal, the delegation proposed that the Committee investigate the adoption of a similar model to the Portuguese approach in Ireland. With the agreement of the Committee, members of the public and Irish civil society were invited to make submissions on the issue. “Overall, the Committee received in excess of 80 submissions from a wide range of organisations and individuals with a lot of expertise and knowledge of the issues involved.
“Public hearings took place on 14th October 2015 at which a number of those who made submissions engaged with the Committee. The Committee has concluded, as a result of visiting Portugal and the engagement there, followed by the consultation and public engagement described above, that there is merit in further exploring the Portuguese model and in examining how it may be adapted for use in an Irish context. The Committee suggests that a health/counselling/treatment approach may be more effective and more appropriate for those found in possession of a small amount of illegal drugs for personal use rather than imposing a criminal sanction resulting in a lifelong criminal record.
“The Committee also points out that better use would be made of Garda and court resources if, in certain cases, a criminal sanction was not mandatory for possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use. The Committee also stressed the need to continue and to escalate the campaign targeting those who supply and deal in illegal drugs. The Committee noted that it is just 15 years since Portugal adopted this approach, and while initially there may have been concerns regarding its introduction, Portugal has seen the harm reducing benefits of this approach. Such benefits include an increase in the numbers seeking help for addiction, a fall in the number of HIV/AIDS cases and significant savings in law enforcement and court service resources.
“The Committee was also told that Ireland’s current approach to drugs is affecting a third generation of people and for this reason the adoption of an approach similar to that in Portugal warrants serious consideration.”

Read the full report at [link]oireachtas.ie/parliament/media/committees/justice/Final-Report---For-Publication.pdf[/link]