Draft National Drug Strategy a damaging retreat from decriminalisation – Sherlock

• Sherlock calls on Government to outline if it accepts Citizen Assembly recommendation on decriminalisation. 
• Failure to so much as reference decriminalisation or consider structural factors such as poverty a regressive move that will harm those in need.
• Taskforces and community-based organisations sidestepped in drafting of strategy.
• Deputy Sherlock wrote to the Minister to outline her serious concerns.

Labour’s Health Spokesperson Marie Sherlock TD has said Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are simply not up to the task of modernising drug policy in Ireland.

Deputy Sherlock said the proposed approach is a clear backwards step that undermines a comprehensive, health-led approach that actually helps people.

Deputy Sherlock said:

“The draft National Drug Strategy has effectively walked away from the clear recommendations from the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Drugs. It has failed to consider the views of local drug and alcohol task forces – and I am proud to be a member of the North Inner City Drugs and Alcohol Task Force. And crucially, the strategy fails to make any mention of a move to decriminalisation.

“Let me be clear: a health diversion scheme will fail without full decriminalisation.

“The strategy must be amended to include decriminalisation. Everyone knows the current war on drugs has not worked.

“It has not protected communities from overdose deaths which are tragically among the highest in Europe. Any serious National Drug Strategy must have this as its central focus. Otherwise, this is a punitive approach dressed up as policy. We need a focus on services, not sanctions.”

Calling for a rewrite of the strategy to include decriminalisation and embed within it an understanding of the structural factors of addiction which impact many disadvantaged communities across the country, Sherlock said in its current format, the strategy will fail to support people in addiction:

“I wrote to Minister Murnane O’Connor last week outlining the real concerns I have at the failure to call out the structural roots of addiction like socio-economic disadvantage, poverty and deprivation.

“Indeed, that failure runs contrary to recommendation 15 of the Citizen Assembly report which clearly states that “drug policy should prioritise the needs of vulnerable and marginalised groups and disadvantaged communities.

“Just yesterday, the Health Research Board published data that showed 124 people died while living homeless in this State in 2022. Over a third of these deaths were due to poisoning. The HRB reported that the most common drug groups implicated were opioids, followed by benzodiazepines, cocaine and alcohol. This data shows proves that the issues impacting our most marginalised demands a real, effective policy response.

“So even with the help of the Citizens’ Assembly and Oireachtas Committee, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil just don’t get it.

“For far too long, communities across this country and in my own constituency in Dublin Central have been ravaged by drug addiction – whether through losing their child to this horrendous illness, to the violent life of drug dealing or from the intimidation that silently lurks in our communities.

“One thing is clear; addiction often comes from trauma, poverty, lack of opportunity and deprivation. And in recognising that, we must admit to ourselves that we simply cannot police our way out of this problem and recognise that it is illogical to stigmatise and criminalise people who have fallen into addiction.

“It is deeply disappointing that such obvious policy measures have been omitted in the draft strategy.

“We have clear international experiences to learn from. The Labour Party has proudly campaigned for a step-change in the approach to Ireland’s drug policy, one that takes a comprehensive, health-led approach. Unfortunately, what has been published fails to meet the mark.”