No plans to decriminalise possession of drugs - Minister

The Minister with responsibility for the National Drugs Strategy has said there are no plans to decriminalise possession of all drugs - contrary to the recommendation of an Oireachtas committee.

Minister of State at the Department of Health Jennifer Murnane O'Connor said there "no change is proposed to the Misuse of Drugs Act".

In a statement to RTÉ News, the Fianna Fáil Carlow-Kilkenny TD said: "The recommended full decriminalisation of drugs for personal use through the repeal of section 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977, which would effectively legalise the possession of drugs for personal use, is contrary to the recommendation of the Citizens Assembly on Drug Use for a comprehensive health-led approach.

"In line with the Citizens Assembly recommendations, the Government has agreed to divert those found in possession of drugs for personal use to the health services, in line with a health-led approach to drug use," she added.

Ms Murnane O'Connor said the Oireachtas report would "be considered as part of the finalisation of the next strategy, and it will help to inform this work".

She said there are no plans to apply different rules to different controlled drugs, after Fianna Fáil had said during the 2024 General Election that a proposal for decriminalisation in its manifesto would unlikely include Class A drugs such as cocaine and heroin.

Govt needs to be 'careful' on decriminalisation of drugs

The Tánaiste has expressed reservations about decriminalising the possession of all drugs for personal use, intimating it could suggest approval for drug use in 'middle Ireland'.

TDs and Senators on the Joint Committee on Drugs Use yesterday recommended for those in possession of drugs for personal use to avoid criminal sanction, noting how evidence from other jurisdictions suggests this will not lead to an increase in consumption.

"I think we need to be very careful here," Simon Harris in the Dáil, echoing comments from the Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan yesterday.

"Everyone wants to see anyone who has a drug addiction get access to healthcare. Everyone wants to see anyone involved in gangland criminality banged up and taken off the streets," he said.

However, the Fine Gael leader indicated the recommendation may have an unintended consequence for "a group in the middle who we're not nearly talking enough about, people who aren't addicted or involved in gangland crime but are facilitating it by snorting 'coke', popping pills and smoking joints," he said.

"They are often in middle Ireland. I don't support any idea that we would suggest that idea is appropriate," he said.

"You might buy those illegal drugs and not care that you are funding misery, criminality and the threats to children's lives and communities.

"The gangland criminals exist because people are going around taking illegal drugs thinking it is a consequence free activity when it is bringing absolute misery," he added.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said yesterday the committee's report needed careful consideration but that the Government already followed a health-led approach to drug policy.

Mr Martin pressed by the Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns in the Dáil on the issue, who said that she "respectfully disagreed" the Government had moved towards a health-led approach.

Mr Harris' remarks follow comments from Mr O'Callaghan who also urged caution about the committee's recommendation.

"My own views in the area of decriminalisation of drugs is one of caution. I think we need to be careful in terms of any law changes or any proposals which would increase the incidence of drug taking," Mr O'Callaghan said.

"In practical terms, drugs which are held for personal use to a large extent, people aren't prosecuted for that. At present, I'm fully aware that there needs to be a health response to it."

However, he said the Government could not ignore the international experience, particularly from the Canadian province of British Columbia, which he said three years ago introduced decriminalisation of drugs, only to reverse it.

Chair of the Committee, Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon, said the recommendation for decriminalisation was not arrived at in isolation, but with the guidance of expert evidence and alongside a range of other measures

The Coalition is due to publish a new finalised National Drugs Strategy next month.