US expert urges Ireland to rethink policies on drugs
The Director of the US-based Drug Policy Alliance has said that Ireland needs to radically review the way it deals with the related problems of drugs and homelessness.
Ethan Nadelmann told a conference in Dublin that politicians should abandon talk of a “war on drugs” and take a more realistic approach to limiting the harm caused by substance abuse.
“The next time some government politician starts talking about zero tolerance or ‘just say no’ or making a drug free society, I think every responsible citizen should burst out laughing at that moment,” he said.
“There's never been a drug-free society in the history of human civilisation. Who thinks there’s going to be one next year or five or 10 years from now?”
He added: “The real challenge is not how do we crack down on this, not how do we build a moat around our children. The real challenge is how do we learn to live with drugs so that they cause the least possible harm and the greatest possible benefit.
"What we owe to our children is to be more honest and more realistic in dealing with this stuff. Take cannabis as an example. I can't figure out why we persist with this failed policy of cannabis prohibition.
"People say you’ll send the wrong message by legalising cannabis; it seems to me that we’re sending the wrong message by putting our head in the sand and pretending that cannabis prohibition is making cannabis less available to kids.”
