In the Seanad, I raised serious concerns about the draft National Drugs Strategy. Those working on the frontline are telling us the same thing: this strategy is fundamentally flawed. It ignores the reality that drug harm is rooted in poverty, inequality and disadvantage. If we build policy on the wrong foundation, we fail the very people who need support most. We cannot afford to get this wrong. #Ireland #Drugs

the amount of utterly clueless individuals arguing about drugs policy here is baffling. ~3k arrests for personal possession per month is “unenforced” apparently? they’ll never advocate for policies that would actually aid the crisis. we are #1 in the eu for drug deaths rate.

we’re spending millions persecuting people for personal use annually, garda statistically disproportionately target these people. yet @cynimhurchu thinks we should spend more money destroying communities and ignore all of the facts. we need regulation, not the status quo.

this is very arguably a personal amount, but will be treated as a “sale/supply” charge based on arbitrary rules that have nothing to do with providing evidence for any sale/supply.

The program demonstrated that legal, medical supply of illicit drugs could drastically reduce drug-related, acquisitive crime (burglary, theft, robbery) by removing the necessity for users to commit crimes to fund their habits. Key Findings on Crime and the "Party Line" (Policy Impact) Acquisitive Crime Down: Results were "astonishing," with studies showing a 93% drop in addiction-related crime and a 92% reduction in new cases of heroin addiction. Criminal Activity Levels: In the comparison group, there were 6.88 criminal convictions per patient per year, whereas in the Widnes cohort, it was 0.44—a 12-fold reduction. Economic Impact: The program significantly reduced the financial burden on the criminal justice system by cutting the need for illegal drug procurement. Dealers Left: Because the market demand for street-level heroin dried up, many drug dealers closed up shop and left the area. End of the Experiment: Despite the success, the program was effectively shut down in 1995 due to political pressure from the UK Government, which was influenced by the US Government's opposition to such harm reduction measures.

lies judges tell themselves to attempt to ignore the fact that the policy they are enforcing is what is actually supporting “gangland murderers”, not random drug users.

considering even garda cannot effectively argue that our absurdly low testing limit for thc proves impairment or that someone was “under the influence” this means literally nothing

lads maybe if you stopped pretending that regurgitating anything garda send over to you was good practice then maybe you wouldn’t have to do silly things like turn off replies.

you actually couldn’t make this shit up 🤦 @rtenews we literally do this, we literally spit in the face of eu policy surrounding cannabis and thc % of hemp every day. we are statistically the worst for it. fucking disgraceful.