“Shocking” Drug Reform and Why There Are No Angry Mobs

Minister of State Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, responsible for drugs strategy, is leveraging an exceptionally liberal moment in Irish history. Just last year this traditionally conservative country legalized same sex marriage. Ríordáin was at the forefront of the fight for marriage equality and, sensing a shift in the Irish people, is pushing the boundaries even further with his proposed safe injection sites and the decriminalization of personal amounts of heroin, marijuana, and cocaine. What’s surprising is the distinct lack of opposition.

Ríordáin considers this an issue of public health and feels that Ireland needs a “cultural shift’ in how it deals with drugs and drug users. Ireland has an enormous amount of very vulnerable drug users who are not getting the help they need out of fear of being arrested. The safe injection sites coupled with decriminalization serves the triple purpose of getting services to heard to reach addict populations such as the homeless, getting paraphernalia and drug use out of public spaces, and halting the spread of blood borne disease. These sites are projected to be up and running later this year, once the government finalizes the legislation to make these places legal. They will start in Dublin and be set up in other cities across Ireland as needed. The issue of wider decriminalization is a little more complicated. Ríordáin favors the Portuguese model of complete, across the board decriminalization (which has been in effect since 2001 with a sharp decrease in drug use), but also concedes that perhaps Ireland is not quite ready for that and would be an issue for the “next government.”

This has received support from many different people. Ríordáin has had positive feedback from members of law enforcement, who feel that with decriminalization they won’t be wasting their time arresting addicts and can focus energy and resources on responding to dealers. There are also community members concerned about needles on the street, a huge issue, because of the risk they pose. This is especially true for children who can pick them up off of playgrounds and even busses (see here). People do not want this on the streets. Many who work in harm reduction with the addiction community support the plan whole-heartedly. Wayne Clifford, one such worker, admits the safe injection sites may not be the be-all end-all solution, but they are a step forward towards compassion for addicts and getting theme the help they need. There are even people from the UK who have come out to say that the UK Labour Party should take note and implement similar plans there.

In an unprecedented move away from old hardline drug legislation, Ríordáin is leading the charge in actually salving the issue of addiction in Ireland, and he is succeeding! Perhaps people are simply tired of seeing their cities ravaged by addiction and are tired of old legislation that obviously is not working. People are willing to do a complete 180 and accept this extremely controversial proposal. This is extremely hearting for what it could indicate about a changing world climate in relation to changing drug legislation. If a country as conservative as Ireland can support this, certainly much more of Europe can and perhaps it will finally spread into the United States.

Works Cited

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Connolly, Shaun. "Aodhán Ó Ríordáin Urges Safe Spaces for Drug Users." Irish Examiner. Irish Examiner Ltd., 30 Aug. 2015. Web. 05 Mar. 2016.

"Here’s What the Drugs Minister Means by ‘Supervised Injection Centres’." The Journal.ie. Journal Media Ltd, 03 Nov. 2015. Web. 05 Mar. 2016.

Holland, Kitty. "Injection Rooms for Addicts to Open Next Year in Drug Law Change, Says Minister." The Irish Times. The Irish Times, 02 Nov. 2015. Web. 05 Mar. 2016.

"Ireland Plans to Establish Heroin Injection Centers." Aljazeera America. Aljazeera America, LLC, 02 Nov. 2015. Web. 05 Mar. 2016.

Iyengar, Rishi. "Ireland to Set Up Heroin-Injection Centers." Time. Time, 02 Nov. 2015. Web. 05 Mar. 2016.

Moore, Steve. "The Man Who Made Ireland Fall in Love with Drug Law Reform." Politics.co.uk. Politics.co.uk, 08 Sept. 2015. Web. 05 Mar. 2016.