{"id":2805,"date":"2023-10-23T13:23:12","date_gmt":"2023-10-23T12:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/?p=2805"},"modified":"2023-10-23T14:00:45","modified_gmt":"2023-10-23T13:00:45","slug":"government-must-be-bound-by-recommendations-of-citizens-assembly-on-drug-use","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/government-must-be-bound-by-recommendations-of-citizens-assembly-on-drug-use\/","title":{"rendered":"Government must be bound by recommendations of Citizens\u2019 Assembly on Drug Use"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Government must commit to implementing in full the recommendations of the Citizens\u2019 Assembly on Drug Use, according to Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have long held the view that criminalising addiction is not the way forward. I therefore welcome the assembly members\u2019 majority vote in favour of a comprehensive health-led response to personal drug use instead of a continuation of the State\u2019s failed law and order approach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have known for a long time that a criminal response to drug addiction is harmful and counterintuitive. Criminalising addicts demonises them for life and denies them the opportunity of a future career or a fresh start.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCountries such as Portugal decriminalised drug use more than two decades ago in favour of a health-based approach to addiction. As a result, it recorded a significant drop in drug deaths. Drug injection rates also declined, especially among young people and new users.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is vital that the Government is bound by the Citizens\u2019 Assembly\u2019s recommendations and that a clear timeline is set out for any legislative changes that may be needed. A major investment in addiction services, including a substantial increase in detox beds, will also be required.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCommunities ravaged by drug addiction, particularly in socially deprived areas, have waited long enough for action.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>October 23, 2023<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Government must commit to implementing in full the recommendations of the Citizens\u2019 Assembly on Drug Use, according to Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon. \u201cI have long held the view that criminalising addiction is not the way forward. I therefore welcome the assembly members\u2019 majority vote in favour of a comprehensive health-led response to personal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1702,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[316,11,411,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gary-gannon","category-health","category-justice","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Government must be bound by recommendations of Citizens\u2019 Assembly on Drug Use - 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\/government-must-be-bound-by-recommendations-of-citizens-assembly-on-drug-use\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ga_IE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Government must be bound by recommendations of Citizens\u2019 Assembly on Drug Use - Social Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Government must commit to implementing in full the recommendations of the Citizens\u2019 Assembly on Drug Use, according to Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon. \u201cI have long held the view that criminalising addiction is not the way forward. I therefore welcome the assembly members\u2019 majority vote in favour of a comprehensive health-led response to personal [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/government-must-be-bound-by-recommendations-of-citizens-assembly-on-drug-use\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Social Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/socialdemocratsireland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-23T12:23:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-23T13:00:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Gannon.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Press Officer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Gannon.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@SocDems\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@SocDems\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Press Officer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/government-must-be-bound-by-recommendations-of-citizens-assembly-on-drug-use\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/government-must-be-bound-by-recommendations-of-citizens-assembly-on-drug-use\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Press Officer\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/70fcd60661593532616f9f91a0fb8db7\"},\"headline\":\"Government must be bound by recommendations of Citizens\u2019 Assembly on Drug Use\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-23T12:23:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-23T13:00:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/government-must-be-bound-by-recommendations-of-citizens-assembly-on-drug-use\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":226,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/government-must-be-bound-by-recommendations-of-citizens-assembly-on-drug-use\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/Gannon.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Gary Gannon\",\"Health\",\"Justice\",\"Press Release\"],\"inLanguage\":\"ga-IE\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/government-must-be-bound-by-recommendations-of-citizens-assembly-on-drug-use\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/government-must-be-bound-by-recommendations-of-citizens-assembly-on-drug-use\\\/\",\"name\":\"Government must be bound by recommendations of Citizens\u2019 Assembly on Drug Use - 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