Statement on the control of cannabis
I have been contacted by a surprisingly large number of people who have asked for my position on the legalisation of cannabis.
Green Party policy is that:
“the Green Party consider that policies centred around prohibition of drugs of abuse have been costly to communities, to society and to the economy and we call for an evidence based review of national and international policy in this area.”
Specifically on cannabis, interest in legalisation has grown substantially since Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan proposed the Cannabis Regulation Bill 2013. While a majority of Irish people are not in favour of legalising cannabis, I was disappointed by the quality of the Dáil debate on Flanagan’s bill.
There are a number of routes to control and de-criminalisation that I think better represents a consensus than does the current law. Aside from recreational use, we ought also to consider legislating for medicinal use as treatment for illnesses from multiple sclerosis to arthritis.
This would not be unusual. Use of cannabis extract as a medicine was legalised this year in Ireland. And possession of small amounts of cannabis, or the cultivation of a small number of cannabis plants for personal use, is not a criminal offence in Belgium, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.
In that light, the Flanagan bill may have been imperfect but the way to improve legislation it is through proper, informed and reasoned debate, which didn’t happen.
A number of groups, such as Normal Ireland, are campaigning for the legalisation or de-criminalisation of cannabis and there have been marches, including in Cork, in support. These groups ought to be encouraged not least for their engagement in a debate about which there is a taboo and that the Dáil failed to do.