Ireland Is Showing the Rest of the World How to End the War on Drugs

[William Tell]

As the United States rethinks how to penalize citizens for drug possession, Ireland is now considering doing away with serious penalties for possessing drugs altogether.

According to Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, the minister in charge of Ireland's National Drugs Strategy, the country is in need of a "radical cultural shift" that includes decriminalizing small amounts of cocaine, heroin and marijuana for personal use, the Irish Times reports.

"I am firmly of the view that there needs to be a cultural shift in how we regard substance misuse if we are to break this cycle and make a serious attempt to tackle drug and alcohol addiction," Ó Ríordáin said on Monday, according to the Irish Times.

The minister also announced plans for establishing supervised injecting centers, which would open first in the capital, Dublin, before beginning in other cities across the country. The centers will give at-risk drug users a safer and more hygienic place to consume drugs, with the ultimate goal of reducing use.

Ó Ríordáin's groundbreaking announcement is still in planning phases. The injection centers require legislative action in order to be authorized before next year, and decriminalization would be overseen by the next administration. Such a law wouldn't legalize the drugs, but it would mean that penalties for possession would be either eliminated or reduced in seriousness to something akin to a traffic fine.

Ó Ríordáin said he was confident about the prospect of a major shift, telling the Irish Times that there was a "strong consensus that drugs across the board should be decriminalized."

The possibility of decriminalization in Ireland is only the latest example of a major reckoning across Europe and the Americas with the enormous economic and social toll of the modern war on drugs.

A leak from the United Nations' Office on Drugs and Crime in October revealed the agency was on the brink of releasing a paper calling for the end of criminalizing drug use and possession. That stance has been complicated by the leak, but nonetheless signals an emerging consensus among policymakers across the world.

Decriminalization would be a radical shift away from the status quo for Ireland, but it wouldn't be unprecedented in Europe. In 2001, Portugal decriminalized possession of small amounts of all drugs in response to a catastrophic heroin epidemic that seemed immune to the conventional war on drugs. Today, that policy is considered by many drug policy observers to be a resounding success, although a number of other factors have contributed to the country's dramatically improved health outcomes.

http://news.yahoo.com/ireland-showing-rest-world-end-002513423.html

 

[Dr. Dog]

Ireland isn't a pioneer in this regard.

Portugal removed criminal penalties for drug possession in 2001.

 

[Danke]

Ireland isn't a pioneer in this regard.

Portugal removed criminal penalties for drug possession in 2001.

You should email the author and let them know that...

 

[William Tell]

Ireland isn't a pioneer in this regard.

Portugal removed criminal penalties for drug possession in 2001.

You should email the author and let them know that...

The article does mention Portugal.

 

[fisharmor]

Yeah unfortunately "How to End the War on Drugs" does boil down to decriminalization of possession of a small amount.
At this point I'm more interested in winning the war drugs... and that looks a lot more like repealing all drug laws, dismantling the DEA and the FDA, dissolving all SWAT teams, passing laws that specifically eliminate qualified immunity, and forcing police departments either to dissolve completely, or (less desirable) adopt a purely reactionary model.

What Ireland is doing is more like "Oops, we fucked that up really good, better dial it back to pre-1990 levels before the populace figures out they don't need us eating into their paychecks".

 

[Zippyjuan]

Ireland isn't a pioneer in this regard.

Portugal removed criminal penalties for drug possession in 2001.

Possession is still illegal there though. If you are caught with drugs in Portugal, you don't go to jail but must enter a rehab program. Dealing is also still a crime and can include jail time.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...dly-anyone-dies-from-overdosing-10301780.html

Portugal decriminalized the use of all drugs in 2001. Weed, cocaine, heroin, you name it — Portugal decided to treat possession and use of small quantities of these drugs as a public health issue, not a criminal one. The drugs were still illegal, of course. But now getting caught with them meant a small fine and maybe a referral to a treatment program — not jail time and a criminal record.

The mandatory counseling and treatment is a key portion of the Portugal program.

 

[The Northbreather]

How does providing a safe place to do small amounts of drugs while still banning large amounts end the drug war??

Profit incentive still in place, now even better for both the dealers and the users lol.

 

[fisharmor]

How is providing a safe place to do small amounts of drugs while still banning large amounts end the drug war??

Same way the Korean War "ended".
It "ends" the drug war by allowing it to fizzle out, allowing everyone to forget about it.
The Korean War is often called "The Forgotten War"... despite the fact that it's technically still going on.
As I was saying, this "end" to the drug war is likely what we're going to get here. Not a win, and not even an end... just an effort to get us to forget.

Running a tax farm takes nuance. Uppity tax cattle can stampede. This is known.

 

[The Northbreather]

Anything but the free market solution is acceptable...