Regulate illegal drug market, says report

Countries should decriminalise drug possession and even petty supply and gradually move towards ‘regulating’ the illegal drug market, a major international report concludes.

It said countries are locking up huge numbers of people for drug crimes, including Ireland, where, it said, a fifth of inmates are in for drug offences.

The research, conducted by the Johns Hopkins-Lancet Commission on Drug Policy and Health, says there is “compelling evidence” from countries such as Portugal and the Czech Republic that decriminalisation has seen “significant” public health benefits.