Time for a fresh approach to drug laws

Sir, – As a society, we need a serious and grown-up conversation about the drug policy in this country. I am not going to suggest what should be done, just some facts as I see them. I do this purely in the hope that a full and honest discussion takes place across this republic on how this issue affects people’s lives and what policy should in future be pursued.

Some drugs bring very serious health issues for people abusing them. Using illegal drugs is, by definition, against the law, and a so-called war has been waged against drugs by the three arms of the State for decades.

The Garda Síochána has a huge amount of resources tied up in this struggle, as do the courts, and the Oireachtas has passed countless laws prohibiting various drugs and associated crimes over the years.

A sizeable portion of the prison population is incarcerated in connection with these laws.

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Despite this, more drugs, and a greater variety of them, are available for purchase than ever before in the history of our State and indeed human history. The prohibition of drugs has not dampened demand nearly enough, and there is a huge economic market which is principally controlled by hardened criminals.

This is a very lucrative market, and the large amount of money generated means that these criminals have huge power. Most recently these criminal have used their power to murder people seemingly at will.

If you removed this market from these hardened criminals you would, by extension, remove their money and their power. You would also remove many people from the criminal justice system.

If a substance is made legal, then additional controls can be put in place that allows for purity to be standardised, people to be employed and taxes to be collected, in much the same way that legal drugs, such as tobacco and alcohol, already are.

I sincerely hope there is a logical debate on this issue. – Yours, etc,

NEIL McCLEANE,

Kilmainham,

Dublin 8.