LEGALISING CANNABIS has been firmly ruled out by Minister of State for Health Róisín Shortall.

“The Government has strong concerns that the legalisation of cannabis use would be likely to lead to increased levels of experimentation with drugs, particularly by young people,” she said. “Cannabis is also known to be a gateway drug, which facilitates individuals moving on to other dangerous drugs.”

Ms Shortall said the misuse of cannabis was detrimental to health, with significant physical and mental health risks associated with its long-term use.

Roscommon-South Leitrim Independent TD Luke “Ming’’ Flanagan said that a “policy of tolerance” in Holland had not increased its usage. “In fact, in comparison with Ireland, especially among young people, there is far less use of it,’’ he added.

A study by the Trimbos Institute in Holland, where one could openly but not legally purchase cannabis, had shown that fewer than one in 1,000 teenagers had experimented with heroin.

“Depending on which organisation one listens to, the figure for Ireland is as much as one in 80,” he added.

Mr Flanagan said that a study by the Institute of Medicine in Washington would disagree with the Minister of State’s claim about its gateway effect. It was not ideal, he said, that people used cannabis but its illegality made it infinitely more dangerous.

“In particular, street dealers do not ask for identification,” he added. “Were it legal, they could do so.”

Ms Shortall said the Government’s chief concern related to the physical and mental health effects of long-term use, which was associated with lung and throat cancer.

Clear links had also been established between cannabis use and the development of serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and depression.

“International literature shows that the increasing number of persons presenting for drug treatment, owing to cannabis-related problems, is linked with increasing cannabis potency and contamination,” said Ms Shortall.