New policy in Republic will see drug users get help, not a criminal record
A SERIES of reforms by the Irish Government that will see first and second-time drug offenders avoid a criminal conviction has been hailed as a new era in how the Republic treats people affected by substance misuse.
The changes mean anyone in possession of drugs for personal use will, on the first occasion, be referred on a mandatory basis to the Republic’s Health Service Executive (HSE) for a health screening and brief intervention.
On the second occasion, gardai will have discretion to issue an adult caution.
The changes were announced by Irish Health Minister Simon Harris, Irish Minister of State Catherine Byrne and Charlie Flanagan, the Irish Justice Minister, in Dublin yesterday.
The new measures were introduced following a report by a working group set up to consider alternative approaches to possession of drugs for personal use.
The government said it did not consider the report’s recommendations on imprisonment for drug possession and spent convictions.
Mr Harris said: “This shift in our response to drug misuse represents a new era in how we treat those affected by drug use. One that affords them their human rights and their dignity.
“We have to stop looking at people with drug addiction just through the criminal justice lens. We have to realise they’re human beings... they deserve second chances, they deserve our support and our health service needs to face up to its responsibility.
“We are neglecting that responsibility if we believe that the only solution to drug addiction is the criminal justice system.
“This new direction will prevent a significant number of citizens from facing the struggle of a criminal record.
“The idea that the first point of contact that anyone in this situation has is the justice rather than the health system was frustrating.
“We badly need this compassionate, health-led response to addiction,” Mr Harris said.
He denied it was an attempt to decriminalise drugs, now or in the future.
Under the Health Diversion Approach, a person in possession of drugs for personal use will engage with the HSE to attend health screening and brief intervention, known as SAOR.
Health professionals in community healthcare organisations will deliver the service for people referred by gardai.
The adult caution scheme allows gardai to issue a formal caution, instead of pursuing a prosecution, for a number of offences.
Mr Flanagan said he will also examine the possibility of introducing a specific offence of grooming children, through inducements such as the provision of drugs or by other means, to carry out drug-related crimes.
He said the reform is not about “making life easier for drug dealers”.
He added: “What this is about is giving people who use drugs the opportunity to change their lives with the care and support of our health services. I want to strongly reiterate that, as minister for justice, I will continue to focus relentlessly on gangland criminals who import drugs into the state, who peddle them on our streets and seek to lure people into addiction and dependence.”
Catherine Byrne, minister of state with responsibility for the National Drugs Strategy, said the reforms give people caught with drugs a “second chance”.