{"id":29573,"date":"2024-02-20T11:00:17","date_gmt":"2024-02-20T11:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabishealthnews.co.uk\/?p=29573"},"modified":"2024-02-20T11:15:05","modified_gmt":"2024-02-20T11:15:05","slug":"optimism-despite-delays-irelands-journey-toward-cannabis-decriminalisation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabishealthnews.co.uk\/2024\/02\/20\/optimism-despite-delays-irelands-journey-toward-cannabis-decriminalisation\/","title":{"rendered":"Optimism despite delays: Ireland\u2019s journey toward cannabis decriminalisation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Via Business of Cannabis\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The Irish Government has approved the establishment of an Oireachtas committee to examine the Citizens\u2019 Assembly recommendations for the decriminalisation of drug use \u2018as quickly as possible\u2019.<\/h3>\n

It comes just two weeks after the D\u00e1il, Ireland\u2019s lower parliamentary house, voted to delay by nine months a bill that would legislate for the decriminalisation of small amounts of cannabis.<\/p>\n

Despite seemingly widespread support for both the bill and the recommendations of the Citizens\u2019 Assembly, the government has been accused of \u2018kicking the can down the road\u2019 until the upcoming election, while paying the minimum \u2018lip service to reform\u2019.<\/p>\n

However, there is a palpable sense of optimism that Ireland, historically one of the EU\u2019s most conservative nations in regard to drug law, is now on the brink of meaningful and inevitable change.<\/p>\n

Natalie O\u2019Regan<\/a>, legal researcher and drug policy advocate in Ireland, told\u00a0Business of Cannabis<\/i>: \u201cIf we\u2019d had this conversation 18 months ago, the results would have been a lot different. We\u2019re going to get decriminalisation; there\u2019s no doubt about that. At this stage, the conversation is about what form of decriminalisation.\u201d<\/p>\n

What happened?<\/h4>\n

Late last month, People Before Profit\u2019s TD Gino Kenny, a long-time advocate for cannabis reform in Ireland, sought to build on the momentum of the landmark\u00a0Citizens\u2019 Assembly on Drug Use<\/a>\u00a0by introducing a bill<\/a> that would decriminalise the possession of up to 7 grams of cannabis for personal use.<\/p>\n

Mr Kenny told the house: \u201cThe criminalisation of the individual for possession of small amounts of cannabis for personal use has been a failed policy\u2026 This bill seeks to bring Ireland in line with other nations and states who have taken a progressive approach to the way we view drug use.\u201d<\/p>\n

The debate represented the first time\u00a0since 2014<\/a>\u00a0that cannabis laws had been discussed in the D\u00e1il, and other than \u2018one or two die-hards, 99% of the political parties were in favour of the bill\u2019.<\/p>\n

This support was largely down to the Citizens\u2019 Assembly and the role previous assemblies have played in Irish politics over the past few decades, managing to shift the public and political discourse on intensely contentious issues such as abortion and climate change.<\/p>\n