Agreed, but I don’t think its fair to put the cannabis arrests at the end. It kind of implies it is a hardcore drug when it is in the same article as heroin, crack and cocaine.

@kevin Higgins , I agreed a different approach is required , but I don’t think its as simple as the drug dealers will go away if you legalise ,and they haven’t in holland Spain or Portugal either , there is no evidence that dealers will go away when softer drugs are legalised.

But drugs are not legal in holland or spain. only small amounts of cannabis are tolerated in both countries.

Dave they’re not legal, you just don’t get penalised for having amounts small enough for personal use, this is why dealers haven’t gone away. It’s like saying that a pint of milk is okay for personal use but you can’t rear cows or sell it in bulk. What Spain and Holland have is nearly the worst of both worlds because they haven’t fully dealt with the problem yet are still held up by prohibition supporters as an argument against legalisation

Crackdown on cannibals..what have they ever done to you. Sorry i couldn’t resist.

I agree with your points also.

Heroin although causing dependence is a relatively harmless drug physically. The only physical side effect of using it regularly is constipation. The other physical side effects such as collapsed veins, infected arteries and abscesses are a result of prohibition and using dirty and infected equipment. The illegality of the drug lead to a crime wave the likes of which have never been seen in this country and would not be seen again if criminal penalties were removed and a proper system of treatment introduced. The vast majority of property crime is caused by opiate addicts.

What I’m trying to say is that it is sad that people become addicted to drugs and it’s worse that people profit from their addiction, but what is actually achieved by criminalizing them?? Gangland murders, addicts all over mainly Dublin streets robbing and prostituting themselves, people losing arms and legs from gangrene and abscesses. It’s vile. When we start taking a pragmatic view of this situation is the day we will see light at the end of the tunnel.

She drives me crazy.

@Ross. Your cogent argument has been a joy. Well said.

Johanna maybe these drugs should be legalised as using them causes addiction which needs to be treated instead of seeing using them as a crime in need of punishment. Legalisation could mean that addicts get weaned off the drugs, use clean needles, take less contaminated drugs and can function in society instead of becoming like Adam and Paul. No one in favour of legalisation sees heroin as a lifestyle choice but there are better ways of dealing with the issue than what we’re trying now. As well as that whether something is a party drug or the lowest of the low is beside the point. The real issue is what gives governments the right to decide what goes into another person’s body.

Prohibition keeps the price of drugs artificially high. And also, like cigarettes, the illicit black market product will be a vastly inferior product.

Ironic how you are blaming your inability to spell first thing in the morning on not getting your regular dose of caffeine.

It’s still an illegal drug so it’s related to the story and it’s news,

It’s not a “harmful illegal drug” not in the slightest

Prolonged cannabis use has been linked to mental health issues.

There’s as much evidence against that link as for it Pat. Alcohol has far stronger links to depression, diabetes, Korsakoff’s syndrome and death from poisoning. Should we go ban that now?

You want heroin and cocaine made legal?, ok crazy person

No, I want them controlled in a manor that reduces the cat and mouse game of the state and drug dealers.

If people are educated properly on the issues of drugs then the tendency to take them is greatly reduced. For me we are a nation of hypocrites, we look down our noses at the people that have bad upbringings who lead a life of drugs – while getting hammered with alcohol on a Saturday night.

For me alchol & drugs are both parrells regardless if one is more socially excepted than the other.

Its time we got real on the issue because if we don’t then stories like this will be even more common & we continue the cat and mouse game – nothing has changed in the last 15 – 20 years on this issue, a substancially different approach is needed.

Alcohol and heroin are the same..?

News to me

But it’s not like its only ireland that Heroin is illegal in? It’s illegal in EVERY country, and for good reason

Shane ,agree a substantially different approach is needed , but it’s not as ” simple” as saying legalise and control as if that would make dealers go away , how or why would they stop just because it was legal to buy canabis in a spar ? Have you seen hiw cigarette trade has grown in black market to avoid the taxes and make profits , do you seriously think dealers will decide to stop supplying and selling cocaine because the state has legalised softer drugs ,which are still likely to remain gateways to harder drugs weather they are legal or not….I agree with your sentiment but unfortunately it isn’t as ‘simple’ as just legalise.

Actually Dave look at holland with just weed. Look at Spain and Portugal with all drugs. These tax, regulate and educate policy have greatly improved to situation. We’ve been fighting the war on drugs for over forty years now and there’s more than ever we need change

Dave, I think most people are aware that simply legalizing and taxing aren’t going to solve the problem over night. But removing criminal penalties would allow the state to rehabilitate those caught in the dependency of drugs like heroin, crack and benzo.

The fact of the matter is that criminalization has never been shown to be an effective method of preventing drug use.

What no takers for my previous questions? You all had a lot to say about legalizing but nobody is able to answer a few simple questions!!
And while I am here another couple of questions. Do we legalised all drugs or just some? Take for example Crystal Meth. The World Heath Organization has described it as ” The most dangerous and addictive drug known”. Do we legalised it to?
I await your answers with baited breath.

Wow, you do ask a lot. This is the constant rhetoric heard from the prohibitionists – how? It’s pretty impossible to go through every permutation and combination of regulation here. There are plenty of experts in policy and pharmacology that would gladly provide their services. There has to be a will politically and socially to change the way we treat other human beings. Until then all we can do is speculate. Criminalization hasn’t had any effect on the consumption of drugs besides increasing it.

If you are interested in the how read this. Impossible to summarize here.

Transform – A blueprint for regulation.

http://www.tdpf.org.uk/blueprint%20download.htm

You should read it -

Ross. Its a couple of simple questions. What is YOUR answer?
Yet you respond with some bullshit about prohibitionist rhetoric. You are the one calling for the legalisation lets here your answers not someone else’s report.

Mick, it’s anything but simple.

If people want to purchase drugs they should be able to do it. Where they purchase them is a different matter. There are a number of options.

First there is a need to separate drugs according to the potential harm they can cause the individual and society.
Each drug should have different and suitable controls according to these harms based on objective scientific data.

Free Market – All drugs can be sold like alcohol and cigarettes. This would probably involve advertising restriction like are being proposed for alcohol and that are in place for cigarettes. but seeing as I don’t support the promotion of drug use I think this would be a bad idea. Profit motive and potentially dangerous drugs are not a good combination – see alcohol and tobacco – opening up new markets and actively recruiting new users bad idea.

Pharmacy distribution – Would be a good idea in the case of serious drugs like heroin, crack and meth. Pharmacists could provide suitable doses and information for those people who are determined to take these harder varieties of drugs. It could be heavily regulated and controlled for quality and purity. The fact that most people dependent on these drugs don’t want to be dependent on them means that in conjunction with this type of distribution there would always be the option to seek stigma free help in detoxing.

Specialized sales outlets – Could work for chemicals such as LSD, MDMA, ketamine and Mephadrone (cathinones). These drugs are relatively harmless when compared with the others above although the scientific data on cathinones is still being collected and reviewed. Strict age limits and identification requirements would be required to make this workable. Again issues of dose and purity would be easily addressed and proper value free education and information about safe use could be provided.

Coffee shops – The system they have in the Netherlands seems to work really well. I’ve been there a few times and it’s all very relaxed and civilized.

I don’t think anyone would advocate that a “laissez faire” system would be of any benefit to anyone.

Proper regulation, education and health care would actually make a difference.

The aim of drug prohibition is to protect people. It has failed.

On the issue of whether it would be open to “every junkie in Europe” – I would say confidently that if it were ever to happen we would be the last country in Europe to change. It would have to be an international agreement. All countries are currently bound by the Single Convention on Narcotic drugs so I hope that clears that up.

I don’t think drugs could be given away free. We don’t give alcoholics alcohol for free or smokers tobacco for free. On the issue of money though, legislation would have to be introduced to siphon off any profits for the single purpose of helping those prone to abusing these substances. If this were the case it would have to be an organization set up by the government especially to deal with this trade

big pharma already supplies opiate based drugs as it is

Its just that in a comment about dependence causing drugs you blamed not being able to spell on your not getting a regular dose of a dependence causing drug. That IS irony.

If you actually break down the figures for causes of deaths and crime ie. the total social harms caused by all drug you would see that alcohol outstrips everything. In fact alcohol is only slightly less addictive than heroin. Crack is another effect of prohibition, cheap and more addictive than cocaine it was a god send to people like Ricky Ross in the 80s, a proper money spinner. A drugs market driven by a profit motive is going to act like any other market would according to basic economic principles – EXPAND.

Think about it this way, how many people are given morphine and diacetylmorphine (heroin) in hospital when suffering from a major accident,heart attack or major surgery? How many of them become addicted?
My mother was put on morphine after breaking her hip AND after surgery to remove a tumor and yet she’s not a heroin addict.
Rates of addiction to alcohol are about 20% – heroin 24% and cigarettes 45%.

On the side-effect issue – look it up.

I’m a nurse, I don’t need to look it up. Yes and all our addicts are taking heroin as prescribed by doctors and given by nurses.

I don’t understand this bit….

“Yes and all our addicts are taking heroin as prescribed by doctors and given by nurses.”

@Maylena McEvoy. If you’re a nurse why don’t you know that heroin when medically used for pain management does not cause any cellular damage. What hospital do you work for?