Heroin addicts should be allowed to legally inject their drug in a medically supervised setting, drugs minister Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has said.
The minister of state said he hoped to change the drug laws by the end of the year —marking a radical departure in government policy.
He accepted there was “some convincing to be done”, including within Government, but said he was “quite sure” both Health Minister Leo Varadkar and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald would be open to considering it.
The announcement, made at a conference yesterday, was described as “brave and bold” by the Ana Liffey Drug Project which has been lobbying for such a move over the past three years.
Given responsibility for the drugs strategy only two weeks ago, the junior minister has already attracted publicity over suggestions the decriminalisation of cannabis will be discussed as part of the forthcoming Misuse of Drugs Bill.
Mr Ó Ríordáin, who has other responsibilities in the departments of justice, health and arts, was speaking at a Better City For All conference in Dublin, aimed at dealing with public drug taking and dealing, and rough sleeping in the city centre. He told the conference that “instinctively” he didn’t see why medically supervised injecting centres “should be a big issue” and “if there is a legal problem with that, let’s fix it”.
Source: Cormac O'Keeffe, Irish Examiner, 07/05/15
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