Ireland mixed up on drugs

Almost 70% of Irish people say the use of drugs is "always harmful", but
86% would still legalise them "for medical use". People are confused, but
the Departments of Justice and Health are not going to be moved, as Cormac
Bourke reports:

The makers of 'Trainspotting' were accused of glamorising them. People from
all walks of life are taking them. Three candidates in the recent general
election sought the legalisation of cannabis. Illegal drugs are a part of
life for thousands of people in Ireland today, from the person who
occasionally smokes dope at a party to the chronic heroin addict trapped in
a spiral of crime and/or prostitution.

Despite major work by the Gardai, particularly in the wake of the murder of
journalist Veronica Guerin by criminals involved in drug trafficking, it
seems unlikely that the use of illegal drugs will be eradicated. Drugs are
a fact of life in modern day Ireland. So what does modern day Ireland think?

The picture that emerges from this exclusive IoS/MRC poll of people's
attitudes to drugs is confusing.

Almost 70% of people say the use of drugs is "always harmful", but 86%
would still legalise them "for medical use".

When asked which drug they would legalise, 60% said none, but 30% said they
would decriminalise the use of marijuana.

However there is no confusion within the Department of Justice. According
to a spokesman: "Neither the Minister for Justice nor the Government has
any plans to change the legislation with regard to socalled soft drugs."

This has been echoed by the Department of Health, which also has some
responsibility in this area. The Department are sticking by a Ministerial
Task Force decision (made in February 1996) that there would be "no
relaxation of the current laws in relation to the possession or consumption
of a controlled substance".

The Department's stand on the issue seems to have been justified by the
general election results: none of the three candidates who ran on the issue
had much success.

'Hot Press' journalist Olaf Tyaransen ran in traditionally liberal Dun
Laoghaire and got just 384 votes.

Luke Flanagan, known as "Ming the Merciless", made it as far as the third
count in Galway West, polling 554 votes. UCC law lecturer Tim Murphy was,
relatively speaking, the most successful of the three.

He received 666 votes from the constituents of Cork South Central who, he
believes, were far more willing to listen than some would expect.

"People expected that I would be shouted at at every door," he explained,
"but that simply didn't happen."

"People seemed to be aware of the distinction between soft drugs and hard
drugs."

People certainly are aware of the distinctions between soft and hard drugs.
Whilst 37% of people think heroin the most dangerous drug and 35% think
ecstasy is, only 1% of people class marijuana as the most lethal of illegal
substances.

People are definitely disillusioned with the drugs problem. "The feeling on
the doorstep," Murphy explains, "was that whatever the Government is doing
about drugs wasn't working."

A number of community action groups have sprung up around Dublin to tackle
the issue.

Seanie Lambe of ICON (Inner City Organisations Network) says marijuana
isn't the drug that's doing the damage: "Heroin is the drug that's killing
our kids, not marijuana. I've never heard of a death from marijuana."

However, experts warn that overuse of the products of the cannabis plant
marijuana and cannabis resin can have negative effects.

"Serious cannabis abuse can lead to physical and psychological addiction,"
says Cormac McNamara of the Irish Medical Organisation, "resulting in
dysfunctional behaviour such as poor performance academically or at work,
as well as an increase in absenteeism and accidents in the workplace."

McNamara believes that marijuana is a "bridge drug" the use of which can
lead to an addiction to harder drugs.

"That is not to say that everyone who tries cannabis will automatically
become a heroin addict," he adds, "but it is rare for a heroin addict not
to have tried cannabis at some stage."

Murphy does not see any proof that there is an automatic progression from
cannabis to heroin. "It depends on the environment and social and economic
conditions of the person using the drug. People who use heroin will
probably have used cannabis, but people who use cannabis have probably
smoked cigarettes and people who have smoked cigarettes have probably taken
alcohol at some point."

There are also differing views on the merits of legalising the drug for
medical use.

McNamara suggests that there are probably some doctors who believe that
heroin and cannabis have enough medicinal qualities to be available on
prescription.

"Theoretically," he said, "if a substance is of benefit, it should be
available. You have to assess the likely downside, however, and it is
likely that cannabis coming into the country for medical reasons would
spill over into the general market."

"Heroin is one of the best painkillers but is also highly addictive. Even
if there are medical benefits, you have to think of the good of society at
large."

"You are only entitled to something as a constitutional right if it does
not impinge on the rights of others."

Does this work in reverse? Can you ban something if that ban does not
impinge on the constitutional rights of others?

It appears that 86% of the people who would legalise drugs for medical
reasons feel that you can't.

One man who definitely feels that way is author Paddy Doyle, who suffers
from General Dystonia, a condition which leaves his muscles in constant
spasm and has a similar effect to working out in a gym for 16 hours every
day.

Doyle became the reluctant eye of a media storm during the summer when the
Department of Health refused his neurologist permission to prescribe
cannabis for him.

"I'm not proposing that cannabis be made available to everyone that's a
separate issue," he explains. "But I've been on medication since I was
eight. I'm now 46 and at the moment I take 11 different pills a day."

"Nothing has worked so far and the Minister at the time (Michael Noonan)
didn't even bother to find out what my condition was."

"I'm willing to be monitored by a doctor over a trial period. If it doesn't
work, I'm prepared to say so. But at least they could let me try it."

MRC/IRELAND_on_SUNDAY POLL

Some results:

Drugs which ones would you legalise?