{"id":1976,"date":"2022-11-30T12:48:39","date_gmt":"2022-11-30T12:48:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/war-on-drugs-is-essentially-a-war-on-poverty\/"},"modified":"2022-11-30T12:48:39","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T12:48:39","slug":"war-on-drugs-is-essentially-a-war-on-poverty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/war-on-drugs-is-essentially-a-war-on-poverty\/","title":{"rendered":"War on drugs is essentially a war on poverty"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nobody can successfully argue that criminalising addicts is the way forward<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The so-called war on drugs is essentially a war on poverty, Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon told the D\u00e1il today.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve known for a long time that a law-and-order response to drug addiction is harmful and counterintuitive. But this Government has so far continued a long and shameful tradition of criminalising those who experience drug addiction and the chaotic lifestyle that accompanies it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn effect, the war on drugs has monetised the pain and suffering of those in the throes of addiction. A drug user arrested for possession of a few hundred euros worth of heroin or crack cocaine can end up costing the State hundreds of thousands by dragging them through the legal system and incarcerating them.<\/p>\n

\u201cCriminalising addicts demonises them for life and denies them the opportunity of a future career. At the same time, this failed process enriches society\u2019s elite, such as members of the legal profession. The sad reality is that poverty pays \u2013 but it does not pay the people who suffer.<\/p>\n

\u201cPortugal decriminalised drug use over 20 years ago and instead adopted a health-based approach to addiction. As a result, it has seen a substantial drop in drug deaths, as well as related HIV cases. Significantly, drug injection rates declined, especially among young people and new users.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithin five years of adopting the policy, Portugal\u2019s drug prevalence rate had fallen below the European average. By comparison, Ireland has the joint highest rate of drug-induced deaths among 16 to 64-year-olds in the European Union.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith all the international evidence showing that the rate of drug use is not directly affected by harsher punishment of users, nobody can seriously argue that Ireland\u2019s war on drugs is the right way forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, decriminalisation will fail to make a difference on its own and must be combined with a broader health-based approach to addiction.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been five years since plans for the State\u2019s first medically supervised injecting facility in Dublin\u2019s inner city were announced, yet red tape and bureaucracy have prevented progress on this essential service.\u201d
\n\u00a0<\/em>
\nNovember 30, 2022<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nobody can successfully argue that criminalising addicts is the way forward The so-called war on drugs is essentially a war on poverty, Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon told the D\u00e1il today. \u201cWe\u2019ve known for a long time that a law-and-order response to drug addiction is harmful and counterintuitive. But this Government has so far continued […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[316,411,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gary-gannon","category-justice","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWar on drugs is essentially a war on poverty - Social Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/war-on-drugs-is-essentially-a-war-on-poverty\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ga_IE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"War on drugs is essentially a war on poverty - Social Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nobody can successfully argue that criminalising addicts is the way forward The so-called war on drugs is essentially a war on poverty, Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon told the D\u00e1il today. \u201cWe\u2019ve known for a long time that a law-and-order response to drug addiction is harmful and counterintuitive. 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