Controversial Reform to Finally Help Irish Addicts
Ireland is making a very controversial and extreme shift in drug policy. Minister of State Aodhán Ó Ríordáin made an announcement on November 2, 2015 that Ireland will be instituting safe injection centers (clean, safe environments staffed by medical professionals where addicts can inject which significantly decreases the risk of overdose and disease transmission and gets dangerous paraphernalia out of public spaces), in Dublin and several other cities, starting this year, in 2016. There is also a move toward decriminalization of small amounts of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana intended for personal use. This is after over 80 years of drug laws and public policy focusing on the criminalization of drug possession, as well as trafficking and dealing. This new plan shows a major cultural shift in a country with successive ‘say no to drugs’ type legislation.
The history of Ireland’s drug policies is relatively straight forward until the explosion of heroin usage in the 80s and the split between policy and social environment. I will offer a quick history of Irish drug laws to illustrate just how much of a change is being suggested. The first law that came into effect in 1934 was the Dangerous Drugs Act, established in order to fulfill an obligation to the League of Nations Convention for the Limitation of the Manufacture of Narcotics in 1931. The first reference to addicts was made in 1945 in the Mental Health Treatment Act in making provisions for addicts’ (read: alcoholics’) entry into psychiatric hospitals with a focus on abstinence rehabilitation. The Misuse of Drugs Act was passed in 1977, replacing the 1934 legislature with updated differentiated sentencing and bringing Ireland into compliance with the UN Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961) and Convention on Psychotropic Substance (1971).
In the 1980s the Irish drug scene changed rapidly with the introduction of heroin and a massive influx in drug use nationwide. Especially in Dublin, use of intravenous drug use and public consumption became a norm. The 1977 act was amended in 1984, closing loopholes, extending sentences for traffickers, and placing controls on some component chemicals such as pseudoephedrine. During this period there was also a move away from abstinence only treatment programs and towards the implementation of methadone clinics. There was no national drug strategy until 1991 with support for treatment and education, acknowledgment of environmental factors in drug abuse, and community task forces. Despite the effort, there was no plan for implementation so execution of the strategy was vague at best. From 1997-2007 there was some sentencing reform, increased backing for policy research, and further implementation of methadone clinics. From 2001-2008 the strategy changed again, focusing on a five-pillar approach: supply reduction, prevention, treatment, research, and rehabilitation. This plan was reiterated as the 2009-2016 plan. At the same time, 60 new substances were criminalized and it remained a crime to possess a personal amount of these substances, effectively criminalizing addiction.
Despite the rising rhetoric of social reform and focus on treatment to act as a balance, the legislation was still hardline against the possession of drugs. This is the political legacy of attempting to address the drug problem and Ireland is still struggling. The most recent statistics I could find (2010-2011 from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction) placed the rates of drug use (at least once in the person’s lifetime) at 27.2%. So, the country is trying a new approach. Though controversial, the use of safe injection centers and a possible decriminalization of small amounts of drugs for personal consumption could be what helps Ireland reach its marginalized addicts to rehabilitate, stop the spread of diseases like HIV, and get rid of public drug consumption and the hazards it poses for bystanders. Ireland would join Portugal, Germany, Australia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Spain in having safe injection sites and the evidence of success from these countries (success that should continue to be upheld by Irish findings) will hopefully sway more of the world to follow suit.
http://health.gov.ie/blog/speeches/address-by-minister-aodhan-o-riordain-t-d-to-the-london-school-of-economics-ideas-forum/
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/injection-rooms-for-addicts-to-open-next-year-in-drug-law-change-says-minister-1.2413509
http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/system/files/publications/737/TDAP12001ENC_408266.pdf
http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Safe_Injection#sthash.z9asSoRa.dpbs
http://www.drugfree.org/join-together/portugal-to-set-up-safe-injection-sites/
http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/
