Citizens' Assembly hears health ministry leadership ‘key’ to Portuguese drugs model

Members of the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use taking part in facilitated workshops on the final day of its fourth meeting. Picture: Maxwell’s 

The Portuguese drugs model is not different because of decriminalisation but because drug policy is coordinated by its ministry of health, rather than the ministry of justice or interior, a European expert has said.

The system in Portugal — where those caught by police with drugs are referred into a health system — has been to the forefront among possible alternatives that Ireland could follow and has been recommended by the Oireachtas justice committee.

It is one of the approaches being examined by the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use, which looked at drug laws, both in Ireland and abroad, at its fourth session this weekend.

Brendan Hughes, head of drug legislation at the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), said the coordinating role of the health ministry in Portugal is the key distinction of its model, rather than decriminalisation.

He said this health leadership instilled an “entire ethos” that is different to other countries and that its approach is “coherent and consistent” with departments working together.

Asked by members of the assembly and reflecting ongoing confusion as to what ‘decriminalisation’ of drugs means, Mr Hughes said he has almost given up trying to define it as there are widely different definitions across Europe, in part because of different legal systems.

“Stay away from the word and think about what you want and what direction you want to go,” he said.  “You have laws and regulations — and they can be changed. 

Decide do you want a person to have a criminal record, do you want guards to have powers or not? Don’t get hung up on decriminalisation.” 

His comments received applause from members, one of whom posed a question as to why there are differences from experts on the panel and internal assembly documents as to what decriminalisation means.

One member said the documents circulated said that, under decriminalisation, drug possession would no longer have criminal status but would not be legal, while leading legal academic Tom O’Malley said, in his opinion, decriminalisation means possession would be legal.

Mr O’Malley said there is a lot of confusion about what decriminalisation means and advised the members to be clear on their understanding of it.

Professor Yvonne Daly of DCU said: “You need to tell society what should the policy be — leave it to government to work out details to put that into effect.”

James Windle, senior lecturer in law at UCC, said research he has conducted shows that prohibition has “worked to a point” in that it has “contained” drug use to a relatively low level, by limiting availability and affordability.

He questioned how societies measure success of their drug policies and advised members to agree on how to do this.

He said it is difficult to assess decriminalisation in other countries but said some research in those states that have tend not to show any “large booms” in consumption and have even shown a reduction in harmful use and that decriminalisation opened a conduit to access to services.

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Mr Windle said he would be “cautious” about legalisation and said commericialisation should “be avoided”, saying society could not trust the market on this area.

He said studies indicate consumption increases after legalisation but said it would be another decade before more health effects are known.

He said State monopoly of supply would be an option and said cannabis social clubs would be a middle ground between decriminalisation and legalisation.