No change to law banning cannabis, says McDowell

There was no change to the law banning the possession of cannabis and gardaí remained as committed as ever to the war on drugs, Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said yesterday.

Reacting to reports suggesting that the DPP had told gardaí they should no longer prosecute those found in possession of cannabis for personal use, Mr McDowell said it would remain a serious offence which could result in prosecution.

"There is no question of the guards depriving themselves, or the Director of Public Prosecution depriving himself, of a discretion to prosecute for these offences. But in many cases it may make sense, instead of queuing up for court time in three or six months' time to confront an offender who accepts his or her responsibility with the facts now, to bring them before a senior officer of An Garda Síochána, to administer a caution and to draw to their attention that they are committing a very serious offence."

He added that legislation had existed for a long time allowing for first-time possession of cannabis for personal use to be dealt with by a fine and caution, rather than pursuing the matter through the courts.

However, while some people would escape prosecution for the possession of cannabis on a first offence, it was incumbent on all citizens to accept that by buying drugs they were supporting violent gangland crime.

"Everybody who consumes cocaine in a social context or smokes a joint in a social context is participating on the fringe of a world where gangsters are shooting each others heads off," he said. Mr McDowell's comments come a week after Garda headquarters, Phoenix Park, Dublin, sent a circular to superintendents around the country instructing them that those found with small quantities of cannabis should not be prosecuted.

The recommendation was one of a series of proposals on minor offences formulated by a working group comprising gardaí and representatives of the DPP's office.

This group was established to consider the report by a committee set up in 1999 under the chairmanship of former secretary to the government Dermot Nally.

It examined how minor offences were prosecuted. One of its recommendations, which is now being acted on in relation to cannabis, was that a system should be introduced under which offenders could be issued with warnings by gardaí as an alternative to prosecutions. Mr McDowell was speaking yesterday at the opening of a new Garda international liaison building at Garda headquarters.

The building will house current Garda operations with Europol, Interpol and the International Co-ordination Unit.

It will also house the Schengen computer information system. The system comes about as a consequence of the Schengen Agreement, which promotes greater harmonisation between police forces.

The computer will enable gardaí to issue and receive alerts from other European police forces.

It will also hold personal data on suspects. The system will be used to tackle all cross-border crime including human trafficking, drug dealing and money laundering.