GARDA CHIEF WARNS AGAINST LEGALISING CANNABIS

Decriminalising cannabis would lead to a drop in price and increased
consumption, the Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, said yesterday. He
attacked "commentators who criticise the use of Garda resources seizing
cannabis worth millions of pounds as being wasteful".

Mr Byrne told an American Chamber of Commerce Ireland lunch in Cork that
such commentators "seem clear in their objectives". "They promote a
supposed soft drug as being harmless and advise the gardai to concentrate
on heroin or drugs perceived as being more dangerous."

He said the decriminalisation of drugs, as opposed to legalised use of
specific drugs under medical supervision, "is not something which society
should embrace as a core value".

He cited Garda research that 90 per cent of drug abusers who have come to
the attention of gardai use heroin as their principal drug. Two-thirds left
school with no qualifications, and cannabis was the initial drug for just
over half of drug users.

Decriminalisation would raise questions of who would supply cannabis,
whether it would be restricted to those over 18 and "who would pay the
compensation for the ill-effects".

"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?"

On the question of fraud Mr Byrne said it was up to individual companies to
ensure the security of their accounting systems in consultation with the
Garda. He said both the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation and the
Criminal Assets Bureau recognised the sensitivity of a business being
involved in a criminal investigation.

They were careful to maintain the confidentiality of investigations, he
said. "Our press office will only disclose the name of a suspect after
he/she has been charged with an offence in open court."