Documentary on Newstalk: Decriminalising Addiction

Should we treat addiction as a health issue, rather than a criminal matter?

'Decriminalising Addiction: Changing Ireland's Approach to Drug Policy', produced by Anthony McFeely, examines whether or not Ireland's existing policy towards drug use is effective, based on the lives and experiences of addicts and the professionals that deal with addiction.

Drugs are omnipresent in Irish life, however double standards exist when it comes to how we view illicit drug use and addiction.

Alcohol is culturally embedded. So much so, that no foreign dignitary or figure can enter or leave the country without being pictured with a pint of Guinness. According to the website alcoholireland.ie, 75% of all alcohol consumed in Ireland in 2013 was done so as part of a binge drinking session. Additionally in 2014, the average Irish person aged 15+ drank 11 litres of pure alcohol.

Turn the conversation to drug use however and the user becomes dirty. Becomes a criminal.

The connection between mental health and substance abuse is well documented. Irish people, now more than ever, are being encouraged to address and maintain their mental health. And yet our addicts are more likely to see the inside of a courtroom than a treatment centre.

So is it time to treat addiction as a health issue, rather than a criminal matter?

'Decriminalising Addiction: Changing Ireland's Approach to Drug Policy' aims to look at whether or not Ireland's approach to treating drug use is effective.

*Kevin, *Tony and Niall are all reformed hard drug addicts. All three men endured intense difficulties in their early lives including family breakdown and abuse. All were exposed to drug use from an early age. This piece examines the environmental factors which led them down the path to addiction, their journey to sobriety, encounters with the justice system and what, if any barriers they now face in society.

Perspective will also be filtered through the lens of those who deal with facets of addiction on a daily basis, the retired garda, on the beat during the height of Dublin's heroin epidemic to the psychologist who attempts to understand addiction and rehabilitate addicts on a daily basis.

We'll hear from the activist who suggests Ireland's criminal justice model of treating drug addicts is counter productive, the community group who've dramatically about-faced in their own approach to drug policy and also from one of Ireland's leading criminologists who is himself embedded with the State's own drug research board.

Finally we'll hear what the Minister with Responsibility for Drugs own views are on Ireland's approach to addiction.

Portugal took a radical approach to tackling their drug problem in 2001. The Portuguese authorities decriminalised possession, treating it as a health issue rather than a criminal one. Could this work for Ireland?

BROADCAST DETAILS:

BROADCAST TIMES: ‘Decriminalising Addiction: Changing Ireland's Approach to Drug Policy’ will be broadcast on Newstalk 106-108fm on Saturday 9th January at 7am, and repeated at 10pm.

'Decriminalising Addiction: Changing Ireland's Approach to Drug Policy' can also be listened to online at: www.newstalk.com

Podcast available at: www.newstalk.com/documentaryonnewstalk after the broadcast.

CREDITS: 'Decriminalising Addiction: Changing Ireland's Approach to Drug Policy' was written, produced and edited by Anthony McFeely as part of the DCU Masters in Journalism programme. Incidental Music by Ian 'Lunacybot' Fleming. Additional Music by Neil Young and 'Madredeus.'

*Names have been changed to protect the identity of some of the participants in this documentary.

Source: Newstalk, 08/01/16