UNITE President and Founder Dr Ricardo Baptista Leite and Drug Policy Desk Coordinator Beatrix Vas participated as expert witnesses at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Drugs Use of the Houses of the Oireachtas in Ireland on July 4th, 2024.
On July 4th, 2024, UNITE President and Founder Dr Ricardo Baptista Leite participated as an expert witness at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Drugs Use of the Houses of the Oireachtas in Ireland. The meeting was chaired by UNITE Member from Ireland, Senator Lynn Ruane, who serves as Deputy Chairperson of the Committee.
The Joint Committee on Drugs Use (JCDU) was set up in the Irish Parliament to respond to recommendations made by a Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use. Consisting of 99 members representing the diversity of the general public, the Assembly was tasked with evaluating Ireland´s current drug use situation and government responses.
The Assembly made 36 wide-ranging recommendations about drug policy in Ireland such as the need for a whole government approach, the need to involve drug users in shaping drugs policy and a recommendation that possession of drugs for personal use be decriminalised. The Committee is examining these recommendations.
The Committee is made up of both TDs (MPs) and Senators from different political parties and also independents. All the Committee Members have an interest in drugs policy and some have worked in the area. The JCDU began its work in June 2024, engaging with a broad range of stakeholders over a planned seven-month period.
During its meeting on July 4th, The Committee discussed the decriminalization, depenalization, and legalization of drug use, engaging with international experts Dr Leite, Marie Nougier, International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC); Marta Pinto, University of Porto (FPCEUP) and European Society for Social Drug Research (ESSD), Dr. Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch, Open Society Foundations (OSF); and Beatrix Vas, UNITE.
Dr Ricardo Baptista Leite, representing UNITE, shared his perspective as a former Member of Parliament and medical doctor, about the Portuguese model of decriminalization and its impacts. Portugal decriminalized the possession of drugs for personal use in 2001, adopting a five-pillar model of prevention, drug use dissuasion, harm reduction, treatment and reintegration. Treating drug use as a health matter rather than a criminal one has meant looking at each citizen’s needs individually, he explained.
“We know that decriminalisation works. We know that putting people in prison because they are using drugs does not work, but we know that decriminalisation is only part of the solution. Our approaches need to be truly human-centric, they need to include all the different components that will address the issues related to the problematic use of drugs, and we need to make sure we are not perpetuating harm but serving the well-being of communities and societies at large.”
The meeting was chaired by UNITE Member from Ireland, Senator Lynn Ruane, who serves as Deputy Chairperson of the Committee. In a question addressed to the expert witnesses, Senator Ruane raised the importance of the rights-based approach, emphasizing that it should be integral to a health-based approach.
Experts agreed that an approach focused purely on health indicators, without considering human rights and the broader social context is incomplete.
Dr Marta Pinto, Professor in Psychology of Justice at the University of Porto (FPCEUP) and Board member of the European Society for Social Drug Research (ESSD), emphasized that people should not be forced into treatment and that sanctions are not conducive to a rights-based approach – especially considering that most people who use drugs do not need treatment. In discussing the experience with dissuasion commissions in Portugal, it was noted that some individuals had positive experiences engaging with treatment services referred by the commissions – but crucially, the key to these positive experiences was the willingness of individuals to participate in treatment, the absence of sanctions and the availability of support itself.
The discussion emphasized that it is essential to ensure people do not get unnecessarily drawn into either the criminal justice, or the health system. Removing all sanctions, both criminal and administrative, is crucial to avoid negatively impacting people’s lives, especially the marginalized. Scaling up and funding systems of care and support for communities is necessary alongside decriminalization.
The discussion also highlighted the importance of providing holistic, user-friendly services that go beyond mere drug use reduction. This includes serious investments in structural interventions to mitigate the effects of social deprivation, and integrating harm reduction services with broader social supports such as housing, employment, and healthcare, ensuring that all aspects of a person’s life are considered and supported.
Marie Nougier, Head of Research and Communications at the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), emphasized that in order to understand and adequately address the understanding the specific needs and challenges faced by different groups, communities should be involved in the design and implementation of policies that affect them, as well as services.
This inclusion should span across casual users, individuals with a major criminal record, and those with problematic use. She emphasizes that diverse perspectives are essential because drug use as well as the broader social context around drugs varies widely across different settings and demographics.
UNITE Member Senator Mary Seery Kearnery, member of the Committee and Chair of the Dublin 12 Drugs Task Force highlighted that in deprived communities, drugs are associated with higher levels of crime, underscoring that in the vulnerable communities she serves, the criminalization of possession is not working does to reduce it.
Expressing concerns about children in poverty being at risk of exploitation by violent groups in the illegal market, she posed questions to the experts regarding what legal regulation could look like and what it could achieve.
Marie Nougier explained that decriminalization and legal regulation are complementary, and legally regulating at least certain drugs in countries that have already decriminalised drugs is critical.
“Decriminalisation policies focus exclusively on activities relating to drug use, but they do not focus on the supply side of the illegal drug market. […] At the same time, regulating the market means a conversation is now possible on how to address the multiple layers of oppression, violence, vulnerability and exclusion faced by many of those involved in illegal drug supply.”
Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch agreed that the only way to effectively eliminate the illicit drug market is through government regulation.
She explains that legal regulation allows governments to control the quality, composition, access, and pricing of drugs, which in turn can reduce the possible harms associated with the sometimes highly toxic drug supply, as well as reduce the influence of organized crime.
While no country has regulated all drugs, several countries are exploring and have adopted some form of legal regulation of drugs in recent years. The country of Bolivia has regulated the coca production market and allows some growing. Governments in Canada, Uruguay, states in the US and, increasingly, Europe are regulating the cannabis market. Heroin is regulated by Switzerland and other countries, making it available to people who are most dependent and for whom other forms of treatment have failed.
Dr Malinowska-Sempruch emphasized that regulation needs to be very well thought-through, and it has to include ways to address the harms caused to those people who have been most impacted by criminalization, for example through inclusion in the job market created by a cannabis legalization.
“We see a lot of efforts in the United States where small dispensaries hire people who, for example, had criminal records and are creating job opportunities for folks who otherwise would continue to be disenfranchised.”
The Citizens Assembly on Drugs Use had also addressed the Committee directly in previous meetings, to further explain their key recommendations towards a comprehensive, health-led approach to drug policy. The Citizens Assembly had emphasized urgent legislative action to improve its response to drug-related harms, including decriminalize drug possession for personal use. They advocated for increased funding for support services across the statutory, community, and voluntary sectors, effective stakeholder involvement, and public health campaigns to reduce stigma. The recommendations included ensuring political leadership and coordination through a dedicated Cabinet Committee, implementing age-appropriate drug prevention strategies in schools, and strengthening national research and data collection systems.
Overall, the Assembly called for a holistic, inclusive, and evidence-based approach to address the complexities of drug use and its impacts on society. Tasked with developing a response to implement these recommendations, the Committee will continue to engage with a diverse variety of stakeholders representing different sectors within a seven-month timeframe for similar in-depth deliberations.
The work of the Committee can be followed here.
