GARDAI IN DRUGS WAR OPPOSED TO LEGALISING CANNABIS

GARDA Commissioner, Pat Byrne, has pledged to continue the fight against
Munster's drug dealers after over £6m was seized by members of the National
Drugs Unit in Operation Blackwater in the past two months.

Commissioner Byrne commended the Munster-based members of the National
Drugs Unit for their recent success and said the resources of the Criminal
Assets Bureau and the NDU would be used to root out remaining drug dealers
in the Munster area.

"Drugs are a national problem and we don't approach it in isolation;
looking at just one area. We have to make sure that all the different
branches are working together in the one direction. We didn't just look at
Dublin, it just happens that the majority of them are in Dublin. We have
sharpened our focus and we are working together on the problem,"
Commissioner Byrne said.

Speaking in Cork, the Garda Commissioner also hit out at media commentators
calling for the legalisation of cannabis.

"Commentators who criticise the use of Garda resources seizing cannabis
worth millions of pounds as being wasteful seem clear in their objectives.
They promote a supposed soft drug as being harmless and advise the Gardai
to concentrate on heroin or drugs that are perceived as being more dangerous.

"However Garda research shows that cannabis is used as a gateway drug and
that there is a very strong connection between drug taking and crime,"
Commissioner Byrne said.

Garda research showed that among addicts, cannabis was the initial drug for
just over 50%.

"If a habit-forming drug is decriminalised, a consequent drop in price and
convenient availability will lead to increased consumption. Who would
supply cannabis? Would sale be permitted to those over 18 or over 14 or on
prescription under a legalised option?"

"Who would pay the compensation for the ill effects? Which parents would
volunteer or be happy to have their children participate in a voluntary
scheme.

If any restrictions applied would the black market continue as it has with
Methadone.

"As the abuse of drugs applies more in the poorer sections of society, is
it acceptable to simply offer them more convenient drugs as a solution to
their problems. If this is the goal of our society all of us should be
concerned," Commissioner Byrne said.

In a speech to members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland,
Commissioner Byrne detailed Gardai efforts to clamp down on money
laundering and warned businesses to be wary of involvement in such
activities, deliberately or otherwise.

"It would not be difficult to predict the rapid decline of a reputable
financial centre or other business if it were to become involved even
unwittingly in such laundering of criminal proceeds," he said.