The headline story around the Citizens’ Assembly was that they have voted to ‘end the current approach to possession of drugs for personal use’.
Under the new proposed system, the public would still be subject to stop and search by Gardaí, and be forced to attend a drug-intervention to be ‘assessed and informed’ about the risks of their drug use.
This would be a continuation of the State’s status quo, in line with current drug strategy which has failed to deal with Ireland’s record-high drug related death rate and sky-high drug harms.
The Assembly noted that they were not given ample room to explore the full implications of cannabis under this new model.
The terms of reference of the Assembly also hindered a full exploration of the debate around the use of drugs, as noted by members as well as the Secretariat.
This broad recommendation gives room to the Oireachtas to fully interpret how they will deal with specific drugs such as cannabis under a new ‘comprehensive health-led’ approach.
Some of our EU neighbours are currently reforming their cannabis policies to be more health-led and are including the legal regulation and sale of cannabis as a cornerstone in these health policies.
The German approach includes the regulation of cannabis being a clearly defined health measure, implemented by the Ministry of Health.
The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice in 2022 performed an in-depth examination of drug use with a broader terms-of-reference than the Citizens’ Assembly and came out with more nuanced findings around how cannabis should be dealt with.
Their 22 recommendations include the establishment of cannabis social clubs, allowance of the personal cultivation of plant-based drugs and steps taken to implement a regulatory system
The Oireachtas needs to consider the presentations made to the Assembly on cannabis, the hundreds of submissions from the public along with the 2022 Oireachtas report on drug use when crafting this new legislation.
The Oireachtas should also be made aware that the majority of first-preference votes (45 out of 84, or 51%) were in favour of either legalisation of cannabis, or decriminalisation of cannabis.
This indicates an appetite to completely overhaul the State’s cannabis policy, including full legislative decriminalisation, regulatory implementation around sale and supply alongside the repeal of prior criminal convictions for cannabis use.
Crainn 
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