All but one of 87 submissions from the public to an Oireachtas review of drug laws favour decriminalising or softening sanctions for possession.
The Oireachtas Justice Committee is set to urge the Government to “seriously consider” a Portuguese-type decriminalisation model for possession of drugs for personal use.
The news comes amid claims that a document prepared by a top UN expert, recommending all governments consider the decriminalisation of drugs for personal use, was withdrawn after pressure from at least one country.
A leaked copy of the paper, which was posted online by UK campaign group Transform and by businessman Richard Branson, said decriminalisation was “permitted” by international drug laws and that criminalisation had “negative consequences for safety, security, and human rights”.
A spokesman for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said the document — drafted, it is thought, by the chief of its HIV/Aids section — was “neither a final nor formal document” and “cannot be read as a statement of UNODC policy”.
Source: Cormac O'Keeffe, Irish Examiner, 20/10/15
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