Earlier this semester I stood before Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) council and proposed a motion that the union adopt a pro-decriminalisation stance in relation to drug policy. A large majority voted in favour of the motion, which was extremely encouraging.
This was no trivial outcome. It is imperative that we, as third-level students, actively oppose repressive, deleterious state policy and follow through with our opposition. In 2015, the National Students Drug Survey found that 82 per cent of the student body has experimented with illicit drugs at least once. Given the prevalence of illicit drug use within the university community, we should endeavour to create a safe, informed and compassionate environment in which this may occur.
My motivation for writing this article is to dispel any misconceptions that may surround decriminalisation, and argue why it is so important to have this discussion.
It has increased the numbers in treatment, drug-induced fatalities and illnesses have significantly decreased
There are numerous countries today that have implemented some form of drug decriminalisation – the most regularly cited being Portugal. In this case, the possession of drugs for personal use (up to a ten days’ supply) has been decriminalised. Instead of processing drug users through the criminal justice system, they take a public health approach, using dissuasion panels to assess cases, and refer some individuals to counselling and treatment services.
The evidence is unequivocal. Decriminalisation does not increase drug use in society. In fact, it has increased the numbers in treatment, drug-induced fatalities and illnesses have significantly decreased and lifetime prevalence rates of drug use, over most categories of drugs, have actually decreased for adolescent age groups, one of the most critical demographics.
What it is vital to understand is that when we talk about decriminalisation, it is the drug user who is the subject of our concern. That is, we are taking a human-centric approach. The production, sale, supply, and trafficking of drugs remains illegal under such a system.
Decriminalisation is about restoring our core human values to public policy. The aim is to be compassionate and to condemn the repression of states who treat drug users as criminals or “enemies of society”. For those drug users who do not develop any problems, a criminal offence is an encroachment on their individual liberty in the private sphere, when they are not harming anyone else, and a manacle that restrains their future opportunities. For those who become addicted to illicit drugs, labelling them as criminals is an injustice that starkly contradicts our moral intuition. Treating these people as patients, rather than criminals, is at the heart of this public health approach to drug policy.
Reducing the stigma associated with drug use is another fundamental objective inherently linked to decriminalisation. We need to recognise the repugnance of dehumanising drug users in colloquial speech. We must recognise the one common denominator that binds us all – humanity – and strive to respect each person’s human dignity in our social policies.
Reducing the stigma associated with drug use is another fundamental objective inherently linked to decriminalisation
Social justice is another value central to the argument. The criminal justice system discriminates against those who do not have the resources to defend themselves against the powers of repressive legislation. Drug possession charges become another factor perpetuating inequality in our society. Again, this seems opposed to our moral intuition.
Most political parties in Ireland currently support the transition to a health-based approach to drug policy. What hinders real change is the lack of public support for such a proposal. Policymakers will not tackle a public problem unless the public perceive it to be a problem and the prescribed solution the correct solution. This is why we must open a discussion in the public forum, and seek to dissolve the destructive stigma surrounding drug use.
Decriminalisation opens up the way for maximal harm reduction. In the Netherlands, drugs can be tested in state-funded clinics that provide you with qualitative and quantitative analyses of a given sample. The government use this method, along with testing seizures of illicit drugs, to monitor drug markets in the country. If a dangerous substance is in circulation, the media will broadcast a red alert warning to the citizens. In this way, hospitalisations and fatalities are minimised. It is imperative that society acknowledges the inevitability of drug use and the futility of trying to eradicate it through criminal sanctions. It follows then, to strive to minimise the harm that could come from that behaviour.
Growing up, we were told to be wise and simply avoid illegal drugs. This ignored the realities of the situation, that a majority of students will grow up to experiment with drugs
Indeed, there has been great progress made here in recent months. Medically supervised injection centres will open in Ireland in the foreseeable future, which will provide essential harm-reducing services. However, given that the momentum of the debate has waned since Labour’s Aodhán Ó’Ríordáin has left the Dáil, we must ignite discussion again and put drug policy on the public and political agenda.
This is an appeal to our compassion. We have all been raised in a society that chooses to regard certain citizens as outside its moral circle. Growing up, we were told to be wise and simply avoid illegal drugs. This ignored the realities of the situation, that a majority of students will grow up to experiment with drugs. We were not educated on how to minimise potential harm if we did happen to engage in such behaviour. The disastrous consequences of this convention are blatant enough to highlight the importance of dissolving stigma and providing satisfactory harm-reduction education about drugs for young people.
Most importantly, this debate is about us as humans, the design of our society, and our social values. Decriminalisation is a statement that society is going to embrace compassion in its social policy, and no longer treat citizens who have not harmed anyone, as criminals. Once the stigma around drug use is eradicated, we can set to building a safer, more informed and caring society. We just need to ensure that the discussion takes place.
