AN EMOTIONAL REPORT launch at Leinster House this morning saw members of an Oireachtas committee urge a fundamental rethink of Ireland’s drug laws, with calls to decriminalise possession for personal use and move towards a fully health-led approach.
Senator Lynn Ruane, visibly moved as she addressed colleagues, said she could not speak “as a politician” in the moment.
“I’m actually extremely emotional,” Ruane told those gathered.
This is why I ran… while this committee was sitting, I lost more friends, and I had to try not bring any of this to the committee room.
“These recommendations are about people, not substances. The substances, they’re innate, but it’s people who die, it’s families who struggle,” Ruane added
Ruane, who previously trained as a drug counsellor and set up an addiction service in Dublin’s Bluebell, said the current system meant “mothers are checking if their children are alive in the morning”, adding that “prohibition has not worked” and urging lawmakers to focus on “keeping young people alive” rather than criminalising them.
Committee chair and Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon said the report marked the culmination of “one of the most extensive examinations of drug policy ever undertaken in the history of the State”, arguing it reflected “a broad cross-party consensus” shaped by evidence from clinicians, families and people with lived experience.
The report, published this morning, recommended that the possession of drugs for personal use be fully decriminalised, and that the move should apply to all illicit substances.
It also calls for expanded harm reduction measures, including greater access to naloxone.
Fianna Fáil Senator Mary Fitzpatrick said the challenge now was political courage.
“Face your fear,” Fitzpatrick said. “We have to move beyond what we’re doing. It is frightening, but we cannot turn our backs on this.”
Speaking after the launch, Fitzpatrick told The Journal that the issues of drug addiction and criminalisation of drugs for personal use were not for justice minister Jim O’Callaghan.
Jim can’t solve this. This isn’t a justice issue.
“For people in the throes of addiction, they need a health response,” Fitzpatrick added.
Fine Gael Senator Evanne Ní Chuilinn described the work of the committee as “collaborative, evidence-based and deeply human”, while Labour MEP Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said it marked a turning point in how Ireland views addiction.
“The war on drugs has been a war on people,” Ó Ríordáin told a press conference after the launch.
“This feels like a moment where that is finally changing.”