TDs from Independent Ireland today backed calls for the legalisation of certain drugs as Labour brought forward a motion calling for decriminalisation.
Independent Ireland TD Richard O’Donoghue said he supported Portugal’s model in relation to drug use. The county decriminalised drugs in 2001 and has claimed it has seen fewer deaths from drug use. It is often cited as an example from those who argue Ireland should drop its punitive approach to drugs, including by left-wing parties such as Labour and the Social Democrats.
The Portuguese model had a direct influence upon the 2020 decriminalisation measure passed in Oregon, as well as proposed decriminalisation in other countries such as Norway.
Opponents of Portugal’s drug laws point to figures which have shown a 40 per cent increase in homicides related to drugs, and HIV infection related to intravenous drug use rising to the third highest in Europe by 2005.
During a Dáil debate on a Labour motion on Wednesday, Independent Ireland TD Richard O’Donoghue said nobody wanted to see a situation where “people with addiction [are] punished while the dealers get rich.”
Referring to the work of Sr. Concilio in Cuan Mhuire and the work of former Limerick hurler Ciaran Carey in helping those with addictions, the Limerick TD told the House:
“We see people doing all this great work and then we are talking about punishing people who have addictions and we are letting the dealers go free. They go free because they are able to get the drugs into this country, the same way as food can be imported. There is nothing stopping them coming in. We need to try something different.”
Mr O’Donoghue pointed to Portugal’s model, where “certain drugs have been legalised in a controlled way.”
“I believe Portugal are doing something slightly different,” he said.
“Here, it was shown that people who were suffering from serious illnesses could be helped by medicinal cannabis after every other drug had been tried. In some cases, the only thing that actually worked was medicinal cannabis to give that person a quality of life.”
Portugal decriminalised all personal drug use and possession, including marijuana, cocaine and heroin, in an experiment that has been cited by decriminalisation advocates elsewhere since the early 2000s. Possession of larger amounts of drugs remain a criminal offence, however the country’s focus is on a public health approach to drug use.
Deputy O’Donoghue said that “under tight legislation” he would “like to see those people have a quality of life if that is there if the other drugs are not there to help them.”
“We have legalised drugs in this country through our chemists and others, which are prescribed drugs for people. If none of them work, and the medicinal cannabis does work for people to give them a quality of life, I would be for that, as long as it is legislated for tightly and controlled. We should look at the Portuguese model,” he said.
“If we take control away from the dealers, we might actually halve the problem. Something has to be done differently. All we are doing at the moment is punishing people who are addicted.”
The TD was also critical of a claim, which he said was made by Deputy Conor Sheehan, that Limerick was “the cocaine capital of Ireland.”
“It is not,” O’Donogue said, to which Mr Sheehan responded: “It is the crack cocaine capital of Ireland.”
“Sorry, we are here to help people. Branding Limerick like that is not nice. We are here to help people all the time, and Deputy Sheehan should not say such things. The whole country has a drug problem. Naming one place by itself is not right,” Mr O’Donoghue said.
Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins, contributing to the debate on the motion, said it invited politicians to “ consider a shift in how society addresses drug use, not through the lens of criminal justice but through public health.”
“Decriminalisation does not mean legalisation; rather, it reframes drug use as a health issue, potentially reducing stigma and encouraging access to support services. While there are diverse views on its effectiveness, this debate offers an opportunity to explore evidence-based approaches that prioritise harm reduction and rehabilitation and community well-being,” he said.
“I note the journey that one individual had to go to get medicinal cannabis to save her child’s life,” Mr Collins said, pointing to the case of Ava Barry. Ava from Cork, who died aged 13 in 2023, had Dravet syndrome and was given medical cannabis for treatment of seizures, with her mother the only person licensed to administer it. The inquest into her death prompted the recommendation of a proposed national framework to guide the use of unlicensed medicines, including medicinal cannabis.
Cork TD Mr Collins called on every TD to support Ava’s protocol and help make it national policy.
“Vera Twomey’s fight was for her daughter but her impact reaches far beyond one family. As I said, I am conscious of the difficulty we had at the time to get that message across to the Government that there are medicines, in this case, cannabis, that could help somebody. If there is a drug out there that will help somebody’s health, we should be there willing to help that, but decriminalisation is an area where we are going down a dangerous route on other drugs,” he said.
Elsewhere in the debate, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said his party would not support decriminalisation. The Meath TD pointed to “evidence in certain areas that the decriminalisation of drugs can lead to increased use, increased damage to health and increased overdoses, as has happened in certain jurisdictions.”
Recalling one of his first political experiences canvassing in a block of flats in Dublin, he said: “As I walked up the stairwell in the block of flats, I noticed, first, a pair of women’s tights on the stairwell. When I got higher, I noticed a discoloured spoon near the top of the stairwell and when I got to the very top, there was a 17-year-old boy lying on the ground, practically unconscious, foaming at the mouth.
“We did our best to try to help him. It was clear that he had taken heroin and was suffering as a result. A few minutes later, a young boy in a Christian Brothers school uniform walked around the corner and stepped over him like it was nothing. It was very clear to me that unless there was some kind of intervention in this area, in these families, the seven-year-old boy would be in the same position as the 17-year-old boy in a number of years.
“There are two major problems with that. First, if there is no intervention on a human level, these individuals are being left to an horrendous life of ill health, addiction and likely death as well. Even if you did not give a damn about the human aspect of this, there is a societal problem too.”
Mr Tóibín said that the sale and supply of drugs is “ravaging whole sections of Irish society with deaths and of people spending decades in prisons as well.”
“There is a real need for the State to actually get serious about drugs. It is not serious about drugs at all,” he said.
‘CONSUMPTION OF CANNABIS LEADS TO SIGNIFICANT MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES’
“To a certain extent, if any of these individuals in such situations were from the leafy suburbs, it would be an issue of far more importance here in Leinster House. Any drugs policy needs to have as its objective the reduction of harm. That has to be the absolute objective in relation to any issue on an individual basis and on a societal basis as well. Drugs cause harm.”
He further argued that the consumption of drugs leads to significant harm, even if there is no criminality involved, pointing to cannabis.
“Even the consumption of cannabis leads to significant mental health issues. It leads to psychosis and schizophrenia and it can lead to significant physical health problems as well, never mind other drugs. The objective of any policy has to include the reduction of the use of drugs. It is often said in this House that there is a dichotomy and that it is either a health-led issue or a criminal approach and that is not the truth.”
“Our party would not be in support of the decriminalisation of drugs. We believe that the Government actually has a bigger job in making sure that the law is implemented. We have no ships to patrol the seas to check the people who are bringing drugs in on the seas to this country. There are 53 Garda stations in Ireland with no gardaí assigned to them. In any block of apartments in any area where kids are taking drugs on a regular basis, the Garda is not touching that because it simply does not have the resources to do so.”