Mick Clifford: Contrasting reactions to drug use and Traveller health reports shows our prejudices

The tortured tone of the debate over the Oireachtas drugs report is in complete contrast with the wanton silence around a report on Traveller health, writes Mick Clifford

The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Drug Use recommends the decriminalisation of drugs for personal use. file picture: iStock

Two major Oireachtas reports referencing how we live and how we might want to live were published last week. 

One of the reports attracted plenty of comment and debate, while the other, which dealt with immediate issues of life and death, was largely ignored. Let’s deal first with the report that had everybody within the political and media eco-system talking.