Dozens of pending prosecutions for possession of certain drugs are up in the air after a landmark court judgment ruled a key drug law was unconstitutional.
Garda bosses were yesterday informing officers that more than 100 substances — including ecstasy, certain amphetamines and an array of former head shop drugs — would be legal to possess until the close of today.
The Government last night began processing emergency legislation, rectifying the law, through the Oireachtas which should be signed into law later today.
The Coalition said they were advised “existing convictions are safe” in relation to possession of the relevant drugs, but said the ruling could affect pending cases.
Health Minister Leo Varadkar indicated there were “dozens” of such cases, but said it would be a matter for the DPP to determine if they could proceed or not.
He stressed many drugs, such as cannabis, cocaine, LSD and heroin, were still illegal to possess, and said the sale and supply of all drugs, including those temporarily legal to possess, continued to be illegal, due to the 2010 Psychoactive Substances Act.
In what it said was a “constitutional issue of far-reaching importance”, the Court of Appeal ruled that Section 2(2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977, which gives Government the power to ban drugs, was repugnant to the Constitution, as the law did not outline the basis for such decisions.
The court was hearing an appeal taken by Lithuanian-born Stanislav Bederev against a High Court ruling which said there were sufficient principles and policies in the act to guide and constrain the Government.
Source: Cormac O'Keeffe and Juno McEnroe, Irish Examiner, 11/03/15
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