The Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín TD has warned against the decriminalisation of drugs. He was speaking out against proposals which were before the Dáil on the matter today.
Speaking today, Deputy Tóibín said:
“When I got involved first in politics I was canvassing a block of flats in Dublin. I remember walking up the stairwell of a particular block of flats and halfway up I saw a pair of women’s tights. I walked up further, and I saw a discoloured spoon. At the top of the stairs, I saw a 17-year-old boy lying on the ground, foaming at the mouth. We tried to help the boy who had clearly just taken heroin. A young ruddy-cheeked 7-year-old boy walked around the corner and stepped over the 17-year-old boy. It was clear to me that if there was not an intervention in this community, the 7-year-old boy would be in a similar situation in a few years”
Deputy Tóibín continued: “On a human level this is really important as so many lives are being lost to drugs. We have a human responsibility to intervene to save lives and help people through really difficult times. On a societal basis we need to intervene as the drugs trade kills not only those who take the drugs but also destroys the lives of their families and friends, leads to the killings of those in the trade and fills our prisons up with wasted lives. Drugs are bad for people’s health, both physically and mentally. Consuming drugs leads to psychosis. It leads to schizophrenia. It leads to depression. It leads to withdrawal from so much of healthy life. Any drug policy must seek to reduce drugs consumption in society. It should seek to see fewer lives destroyed by addiction, fewer people’s health destroyed and damaged by drugs.
“Decriminalization of drugs can lead to an increase in drug use. It can lead to increased levels of harm. It can lead to increased overdose and deaths. I find it amazing that we are making it harder to access cigarettes and vapes and at the same time all political parties except Aontú are hell-bent on legalising or decriminalising drugs. We need tougher sentencing for those involved in the drug trade – for drug dealers. We don’t have enough ships to patrol the sea. 55 Garda stations don’t have an assigned garda. Policing resources are so weak on the ground. There is nothing stopping a health led response working in tandem with a law-and-order response. We don’t have a health led response. If a 17-year-old child wants to get off drugs in Meath, there is very little support. There are no residential drug rehabilitation beds for young people in Meath. The crisis exists because the government is not implementing the laws or the supports that they could. One issue which is coming up across the country is the terror being inflicted on innocent families by drug gangs seeking to recoup drug debt accumulated by their family members. Mothers, fathers and grandparents having masked men land at their doors over their son or grandson who owes money to dealers. It is a horrendous situation for any family, and that is where the political focus should be”, concluded Tóibín.
