Decriminalising drugs would make this trade much worse

For those of us who have covered the district and circuit courts over many years, the parade of young people appearing before judges for unlawful possession of drugs can be disconcerting and sometimes upsetting. In the main, the defendants are in their late teens and up to their 30s. Many are charged with simple possession of small amounts of cannabis. If it's their first offence, they may be dealt with under the Probation of Offenders Act and given a lecture on the evils of drug use before being sent on their way. If it's a second offence, they may be ordered to attend the Probation Service for preparation of a court report, and perhaps urinalysis. Charges of unlawful possession of drugs for sale or supply will often be directed to a higher court - often the circuit court - where a defendant is more likely to draw down a prison sentence. In many cases, defendants with a conviction for drug possession or dealing will face considerable difficulties in their future lives - for instance, in gaining access to another country, or in gaining employment here. What employer would trust someone who could go on to steal in order to feed a drug habit, or who may be under the influence while using machinery? Some go on to ruin their own health and lives, not to speak of those around them. Judges are all too aware of the baleful effect of illegal drug use on individuals and society. In this region, judges hand out regular lectures to young people coming before them for drug possession. Drug possession can have its lighter side, but not very often. In a case reported in the Irish Examiner earlier this month, a Welsh biochemist told a court in Cork that she enjoyed smoking a pipe of her home-grown cannabis and that it inspired her to work hard on her land in west Cork. She admitted having it for her own use but denied possession for sale or supply when gardai seized 18 plants at her home in September last year. The unusual case was greeted with frequent outbursts of laughter from the public gallery, and indeed, from the jury box, especially when she told the jury she also grew cannabis plants outdoors. "I had to hide them so the guards wouldn't find them, but they did. Unfortunately." She added: "I just have a little pipe by myself to inspire myself. My cannabis is uplifting and gives me inspiration and energy to do the work. I am 52 and I've been smoking this since I was 19. I don't consider it did me any harm. I am not addicted. Some days, I don't smoke any." While looking quite at home in the witness box, it sounded like she was more at home tending her crop, "watching them since the spring. Watching and waiting. Hopefully." The case may have serious consequences for the woman. She has a nine-month suspended prison sentence hanging over her from a district court for cannabis cultivation which may now be activated. No laughing matter. I'm raising the issue of drug possession and use/abuse because, in full-page advertisements in English newspapers last weekend, the 'Global Initiative for Drug Policy Reform' declared: "The global war on drugs has failed. It is time for a new approach." It was signed by such luminaries as former presidents Jimmy Carter, Fernando Cardoso (Brazil), Cézar Gaviria (Colombia), Vicente Fox (Mexico), Ruth Dreifuss (Switzerland), Lech Walesa (Poland), Mario Larga Llosa (writer, Nobel prizewinner), philosopher Naom Chimsky, Sir Richard Branson, Dr Jan Qiarda (former president of European police chiefs), musician Sting, artist Yoko Ono, and former UK ministers Bob Ainswoeth and Peter Lilley. Their drift seemed to be that use of major controlled drugs has risen, supply is cheaper, purer and more available than ever before. Illicit drugs are the third most valuable industry in the world after food and oil, and estimated to be worth $450 billion a year, all in the conntrol of criminals. An estimated 10 million people are in prison worldwide for drug-related offences, mostly 'little fish', personal users and samall time dealers. Stability, security and development are threatened by the fallout from the war on drugs, as are human rights, they say. They want serious consideration of a shift of resources away from "criminalising tens of thousands of otherwise law-abiding citizens" and towards an approach based on health, harm reduction, cost-effectiveness and respect for human rights. They argue that this approach delivers better results than criminalisation. So this is where we stand at the beginning of the 21st century. We have a policing and legal system allegedly showing itself incapable of dealing with a nefarious and destructive force. So we simply hand in our badges and give up the fight? Not a chance. This battle must go on. The so-called luminaries are living in cloud-cuckoo land. Shifting the emphasis away from criminalisation will make the situation infinitely worse. We should stiffen our resolve to deal with the ruthless individuals behind the drug trade, irrespective of how difficult that may prove to be.