CBD Oil Reduces Seizure Activity but Without the Side Effects of Cannabis Preparations of the leaves and resin of the cannabis plant have been in use for more than 2,000 years. First introduced into western medicine in the mid-19th century, cannabis was prescribed in the past for a diverse range of complaints including anxiety, arthritis and rheumatic disorders, migraine and painful menstruation. A cannabis derivative, nabilone, is effective in treating nausea and vomiting brought on by chemotherapy treatment in cancer patients. The benefits of cannabis in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) have been well described. It reduces muscle cramps and relaxes bladder and bowel sphincters. And it has been shown to reduce the pressure in the eyeball that leads to glaucoma. [continues 371 words]
Cbd Oil Dispensed in Several US States but No Doctor Here Will Prescribe It Cork Mother Made Plea to Minister for Health but Says His Hands Tied by Law The mother of a six-year-old girl with a rare and catastrophic form of epilepsy fears her daughter will die unless a consultant goes out on a limb and prescribes cannabis oil to lessen her seizures. Ava Barry from Aghabullogue in Co Cork endures hundreds of seizures every year. Her mother, Vera Twomey, fears her daughter's life will be cut prematurely short unless a doctor prescribes cannabis oil which has been known to control the severity and number of seizures. [continues 541 words]
Legislation criminalising the possession of illegal drugs reinforced the stigma associated with addiction, Independent Senator Lynn Ruane has said. She said the relentless war on drugs had failed long ago, with the addict becoming collateral damage. "We cannot continue to separate the addict from the dealer," she said. Ms Ruane told the Seanad she had dozens of conversations in recent weeks with people who both sold and used substances. Ms Ruane was speaking during a debate on the Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill, including prescription drugs sold illegally within the remit of existing legislation. [continues 151 words]
Stanton Also Wants Traveller Ethnicity Recognised A NEWLY appointed junior justice minister wants personal possession of all illegal drugs to be decriminalised as part of the Government's plan to tackle gangland crime. Minister of State for Equality, Migration and Integration, David Stanton, also plans to use his new position to convince Fine Gael colleagues to recognise the Travelling Community as a distinct ethnic minority group. Speaking for the first time since taking office, Mr Stanton also revealed Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald is supportive of both proposals. [continues 517 words]
Sir, As a society, we need a serious and grown-up conversation about the drug policy in this country. I am not going to suggest what should be done, just some facts as I see them. I do this purely in the hope that a full and honest discussion takes place across this republic on how this issue affects people's lives and what policy should in future be pursued. Some drugs bring very serious health issues for people abusing them. Using illegal drugs is, by definition, against the law, and a so-called war has been waged against drugs by the three arms of the State for decades. [continues 231 words]
Most Drug Dealers Don't Live in Some Fine Pad on the Costa Del Sol, They Actually Live With Their Mammies. THE news that another man has been killed in a war fuelled by money made from drug dealing, begs the question how long are we going to tolerate the illegality of drugs. Yes, the word used is tolerate! How long are we going to tolerate a situation where drug money is fuelling the murderous activity of drug gangs, while the use of drugs is not decreasing, but increasing. [continues 1062 words]
The way to deal with drugs gangs is through their bank accounts by legalising certain drugs, Independents 4 Change TD Clare Daly told the Dail. During a debate on criminal gangs following the feud in Dublin in which seven people have been killed, she said there were "massive profits in the drug trade as a result of our policy of prohibition". The Dublin Fingal TD said legalising cannabis would develop a revenue stream for the State and would also be a "lucrative first step into the profits of many of these gangs. If we really want to deal with them, we must deal with them through their bank accounts." [continues 199 words]
The 'war' on drugs was lost before it had ever begun. The futility of prohibition is finally beginning to dawn, writes Dan O'Brien EFFORTS to stop people taking intoxicants will be in vain for as long as human nature is as it is. The downsides of prohibiting substances that people want to consume outweighs the upsides. For softer drugs, such as cannabis, the case for decriminalisation is overwhelming. These realities are at last having an effect on the debate in many countries, Ireland included. Just last week the Mexican supreme court in a majority decision ruled that a "cannabis club" was not breaking the law by growing and transporting the drug for its members' recreational use. North of the Rio Grande, some US states have decriminalised marijuana in recent years and many more are allowing its use for medicinal purposes. [continues 1034 words]
Regarding Jillian Godsil's article about the alleged War on Drugs ( Irish Independent, August 21), apparently it is over. When was it ever happening? So ferocious has the State's war on drugs been that drugs are bought and consumed with gay abandon. There has been de facto decriminalisation of drugs in this country since the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977, so closely modelled on the UK's equivalent Act of 1971. Ms Godsil knows perfectly well that people who have lung cancer cannot choose to stop having lung cancer. People who take drugs can and do choose to stop. Ms Godsil admits that she smoked cigarettes for 20 years. If her "addiction" was incapable of being defeated then, surely she could never have stopped? But she did. She chose to stop. [continues 196 words]
Portugal went the whole hog and decriminalised drugs. There was an outcry at the time, but the country is doing well. Criminal gangs are displaced, and money once spent on policing the bad guys (including the addicts) is now spent on helping them NOT for the first time, Peter McVerry has called it. The war on drugs is over, he says. They're available on every street corner. He even prefers the option of legalising drugs, not merely decriminalising them, opting for the methadone distribution model which has in effect decimated the criminal sales of methadone as well, ensuring the quality of the product available. Fr Peter McVerry believes the war on drugs cannot be won using current battle plans [continues 727 words]
THREE detectives were slashed with a knife and then attacked by a pitbull dog when they went to carry out a drug search at a house in Co Louth yesterday morning. The incident happened in the rural townland of Sandpit, between Termonfeckin and Drogheda, at around 10am. Gardai from Ardee station arrived at a property with a search warrant. Sources said that a man, originally from Dublin, lashed out at the three men with a number of knives when he answered the front door. [continues 307 words]
The harmful effects of cannabis and its role as a gateway illicit drug have been confirmed in a large study published last week. It looked at the frequency of cannabis use before the age of 17, and seven developmental outcomes up to age 30. The Antipodean researchers found that those who are daily cannabis users are over 60 per cent less likely to complete secondary school or to complete a degree compared to those who have never used the drug. Published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry, the authors also found that daily users of cannabis during adolescence are seven times more likely to attempt suicide, and are eight times as likely to use other illicit drugs in later life. [continues 215 words]
New Research That Links Cannabis With Depression and Suicide in Teens Is Nothing Short of Alarming One of the more idiotic statements made by Bill Clinton throughout his career was that as a student he smoked cannabis, but didn't inhale. That statement sprang to mind during the week when the results of a study on cannabis use in the student generation, were published in the medical journal The Lancet. But at least, despite his somewhat ambivalent moral attitude, ex-President Clinton's progress in life was not impeded. Others in his own age group and younger may not have been so lucky: The Lancet research found that young people who smoke cannabis daily in their teen years are 18 times more likely to become dependent on the drug than those who have never smoked it. They are also eight times more likely to use other illicit drugs than those who never smoked cannabis. [continues 711 words]
More than half of young Irish people think cannabis should be regulated, according to a new EU survey. The Eurobarometer survey was carried out by telephone for the European Commission between June 3rd and 23rd. There were 500 Irish participants among 13,130 interviewees across Europe. It focused on young Europeans and dealt with levels of drug use, perceived risk of certain substances, as well as opinions on regulating drugs and dealing with drug problems in society. The survey found some 56 per cent of young Irish people believe cannabis should be regulated, an increase of 15 per cent since the last survey in 2011. [continues 215 words]
Use Of Methadone In Mountjoy Criticised By Prisons Oversight Group Prisons are still struggling to tackle drug and staffing problems, according to the latest round of prison visit reports released by the Department of Justice today. One of the reports, which were compiled by prison visiting committees for various detention centres across the State, expressed severe reservations over the introduction of methadone into Mountjoy Prison's low security Training Unit. Committee members voiced concerns over the highly-addictive nature of the drug, which is used to wean addicts off opiates such as heroin, but acknowledged some successes of the fledgling system introduced earlier this summer. [continues 452 words]
THREE years ago, the UN Global Commission on Drug Policy announced that the world had lost the long war against illegal drugs. Its 22 eminent members concluded that there remained only one feasible response: legalise the trade. The evidence they had studied was overwhelming. The fight had resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives in turf wars and in ever-increasing power and wealth for the criminal syndicates. Tens of millions were incarcerated, often in prisons where dangerous drugs were as easily available as on the outside. [continues 616 words]
A CITY-CENTRE phone-box turned drug den is to be removed after a four-year campaign. Four Eircom phone-boxes, at 19-20 South Great George's Street, which were being used for injecting heroin, have been listed for removal by Dublin City Council (DCC). "It became a ghetto. They were constantly being used for taking drugs, hiding drugs and dealing drugs," said independent councillor Mannix Flynn. Mr Flynn had been campaigning for their removal for four years after he became inundated with complaints from local businesses and residents, who had become afraid of the area. [continues 269 words]
Sir, - Further to Simon Carswell's "The highs and lows of legalised marijuana" (July 12th), which examined the legal status of the drug in the US, it is clear that the days when politicians could get away with confusing the drug war's tremendous collateral damage with a comparatively harmless plant are coming to an end. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidise violent drug cartels and open a gateway to the harder drugs they sell, prohibition is a grand success. The drug war distorts supply and demand dynamics so that big money grows on little trees. If the goal is to deter use, marijuana prohibition is a catastrophic failure. [continues 108 words]
Decriminalised in Brooklyn and Legal in Washington State, the Drug Has Had a Big Week in the US Buying marijuana in the United States for recreational (read: fun) purposes may be legal in two American states now but for some it is far from acceptable, as security guard Mike Boyer learned to his cost. Boyer (30), from Spokane in Washington, stood in line for almost 20 hours waiting to become the first customer on "Green Tuesday" to buy recreational marijuana in one of 334 retail dispensaries licensed to sell grass. The shops opened this week two years after voters in the Pacific northwest state voted to approve its sale. [continues 686 words]
The outgoing Minister of State for Primary Care Alex White has removed legal impediments to the use of medicinal cannabis . In one of his final acts in the Department of Health before moving to his new role as Communications Minister, Mr White signed regulations enabling the sale of products that alleviate symptoms of multiple sclerosis. Approval for their use in Ireland was dependent on changes to the Misuse of Drugs Regulations under legislation controlling supply and possession. It will pave the way for the sale of drugs such as Sativex, with extracts from the the cannabis plant. There are also changes to methadone prescriptions, requiring handwritten details of patients and details of dosage. [end]
Regulations to allow for the prescribing of medicinal cannabis are to be finalised within the next week. The regulations will permit the prescribing of cannabis-based medicines to relieve muscle spasm symptoms in people with multiple sclerosis. Minister of State for Health Alex White said he was hopeful he would be able to sign the regulations before the end of the week. An application to allow Sativex, which contains extracts from the leaf and flower of the cannabis plant, to be sold in the Irish market has been received by the Irish Medicines Board. [continues 134 words]
Sir, - It may not be popular, but it needs to be said - the sentencing of Pat Scanlan to 15 years in prison for importing 4.8kg of cannabis is monstrous ("Restaurateur jailed for 15 years for importing cannabis", Home News, May 21st). The merits or otherwise of cannabis can be debated; what is absolutely certain is that its criminalisation has done nothing to diminish its popularity, and it has been freely available in Ireland for over 40 years. It has remained popular because people who use it know it is not in any way equivalent to heroin or other hard drugs. A sentence of 15 years is completely out of proportion to the crime committed, and in due course will come to be seen as barbarous. - Yours, etc, Eoin Dillon, Ceannt Fort, Mount Brown, Dublin 8. [end]
A Notorious Drug Dealer Is One Of 12 Suspects For An Assault Which Saw A Detective Pistol-Whipped. The criminal has been identified by gardai as a main suspect after a detective who was held at gunpoint was beaten unconscious by the assailant with a gun in a Dublin park. The middle-aged detective, who is attached to Sundrive Road garda station, was knocked unconscious in the attack at Ravensdale Park in Kimmage on March 25. While he is making a good recovery from his injuries, an intensive garda investigation into the incident is continuing. [continues 371 words]
THESE days it's increasingly popular for politicians to admit to smoking cannabis in their youth, so why are we still criminalising young people for the same behaviour? Last month, Barack Obama caused a stir when he said: "I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked ... I don't think it is more dangerous than alcohol." Meanwhile, in this country, even conservative types like Leo Varadkar and Brian Cowen have admitted to smoking the odd spliff when they were in college. However, despite their own dalliances with drugs in the past, politicians demonstrate breathtaking hypocrisy in insisting on the continuation of a failed policy - the blanket criminalisation of cannabis use. [continues 590 words]
A man who has had both his eyes removed due to glaucoma has handed himself in to gardai with a quantity of herbal cannabis in a protest designed to challenge the law regarding the use of the drug for medicinal purposes. Mark Fitzsimons (30) has been completely blind for the past five years and believes that by being prosecuted for possession he may be able to avail of free legal aid in order to test legislation. On Thursday, with the help of his cane and carer, the Dundalk resident presented himself to gardai with a small quantity of the drug and requested he be charged with possession in order to secure a court appearance. Gardai confiscated the substance and issued him with a formal caution. Once a test confirms it is cannabis , Mr Fitzsimons will receive a summons to attend court. [continues 354 words]
Dear Editor, I am writing in response to the specious comments made by Cllr. Peter Dempsey in your newspaper dated November 6, 2013 and his call for parents to complain about the proposals made in Leinster House by Deputy Luke Flanagan. As a concerned cannabis consumer myself, I find Cllr. Dempsey's view regarding cannabis to be nothing short of archaic, truth void and they belie his lack of knowledge regarding the true threats facing Irish society. The basic premise of his argument is 'cannabis automatically leads people onto heroin' and given that this view is not supported by any medical or anecdotal evidence, I would like to ask Cllr. Dempsey how he came to form such opinions. If his claims regarding the number of people in Arklow's cemeteries who 'started out on cannabis' are based on fact, I would be happy to stand corrected should he choose to furnish us with the source of his information. [continues 606 words]
Well, another day another debate about drugs. And, Ireland being Ireland, another debate about drugs that immediately descends into the kind of hallucinatory silliness you'd normally associate with a hit of particularly strong acid. Luke Ming Flanagan's suggestion last week that this country legalise cannabis and save euro 300m in the process has been greeted with derision in some quarters and, let's be honest, that should hardly come as much of a surprise. But the thing is - and I don't derive any great satisfaction from publicly admitting this - he is probably right, if even for the wrong reasons. [continues 652 words]
HIGH-POTENCY cannabis is putting young people who use the drug heavily at risk of stroke, a leading specialist has told an inquest. Consultant stroke physician Professor Joseph Harbison told Dublin Coroner's Court that doctors at St James's Hospital have seen "five or six cases" of young people having strokes following the use of herbal cannabis in the past three years. The strokes may be linked to the increased potency of cannabis available in Ireland over that period, he said. [continues 388 words]
Sir, Joanne Hunt ("Is it time to legalise marijuana?", Health + Family, September 2nd) refers to a book with a dubious title, Marijuana is Safer: so why are we driving people to drink? Most people are sensible enough to recognise the folly of the question and to realise that "We" are not forcing anyone to drink. People take alcohol and other drugs to alter their mood and perceptions, and with that comes the danger. A study in the academic journal, Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, demonstrated that a marijuana cigarette deposits four times the amount of tar in the human respiratory tract than a tobacco cigarette. [continues 130 words]
If We Treat Recreational Drugs in the Same Way As Prescription Ones, We Might Be in a Better State, Says Julia Molony SO MEDICAL marijuana will soon be added to your local GP's prescription slate. But don't all go rushing down asking for a couple of spliffs every time you've got a stomach ache. The drug will be available for therapeutic purposes only, initially for treatment of spacisity in Multiple Sclerosis. However, it has clinical applications for an array of ailments, including seizures and to improve cancer patients' tolerance for treatments such as chemotherapy. [continues 600 words]
Doctors will be allowed to prescribe medicinal cannabis under regulations likely to be introduced this year. It is also to become an offence to possess certain prescription drugs without authorisation. This is in an effort to address the spiralling problem of open dealing in benzodiazepines and other tranquilliser drugs. Minister of State for Primary Care Alex White has issued consultation documents on his plans and is seeking submissions by the end of the month. However, the proposals are likely to be welcomed by interested parties who have been seeking such changes for a number of years. They would also bring Ireland into line with other EU states and into compliance with obligations under a number of UN resolutions. [continues 118 words]
Sir, Further to Brian O'Connell's article ("Time to clear the air on cannabis", Health & Family, July 6th), I would like to point out that if health outcomes determined drug laws instead of Anglo-American cultural norms, cannabis would be legal. Unlike alcohol, cannabis has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. Like any drug, cannabis can be harmful if abused, but jail cells are inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents. [continues 71 words]
Users believe cannabis - most popular with higher socioeconomic groups - is now socially acceptable, and most people would like it legalised for medicinal use. But should it be? 'I live at home with my dad and I smoke weed in front of him and it doesn't faze him in the least. There is no taboo with it anymore," explains Pauline Scanlon, a singer from Dingle and a habitual cannabis user. As cannabis users go, Scanlon is in fact in the minority. The majority of users, according to a National Advisory Committee on Drugs and Alcohol (NACD) report published this week, are male. Of those who have tried it in their lifetime, 35 per cent are from higher socioeconomic groups such as professionals, managers or civil servants. Of the general population, one in four 15- to 64- year-olds have tried cannabis in their lifetime, which is an increase of 3 per cent on the last survey conducted in 2006/07. [continues 1289 words]
The Government is preparing regulations that would legalise cannabis-based medicinal products in limited circumstances, Minister of State at the Department of Health Alex White has said. The Government is at "an advanced stage in preparing regulations to allow for a very limited availability of cannabis for medical purposes", he said, adding its use would be restricted to a mouth spray. "We have consulted widely with expert opinion and we have come to the conclusion that there is a case for limited availability," he said, adding the Irish Medicines Board has received a market authorisation application from a pharmaceutical company for Sativex, a cannabis-based mouth spray. The board has recommended the approval of the product for the Irish market. [continues 286 words]
Police in the North are investigating whether eight sudden deaths in the province in recent weeks are linked to a potent and toxic batch of the class A drug, Paramethoxyamphetamine, also known as PMA. Seven of the deaths occured around Belfast and an eighth in the north west. The PSNI advised people to be particularly careful if they are offered green coloured tablets with a logo of a crown or castle on them. The North's chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride said that those who took the pills may have believed they were taking ecstasy. [continues 261 words]
The term of the Garda Commissioner, Martin Callinan, has just been extended by two years. While seen as an effective officer who is across his brief, making the most of reduced resources, Callinan has also had the good fortune to be in office at a time that crime is falling. Recorded crime peaked in 2008 and has reduced yearly since, with the overall drop at 13 per cent to the end of 2011. Homicide and gun crime have both almost halved, while drug crime is down by more than 25 per cent. Burglary is the only crime to buck the recent falling trends. Public-order offences, sex crimes, assaults, thefts and others are all down. While the received wisdom is that crime rises in recession, this is not happening in many countries. [continues 381 words]
A new study shows a significant drop in IQ for long-term users who smoked cannabis from adolescence into adulthood. Here, some young adults discuss their experiences with the drug.‘I FIRST STARTED smoking cannabis when I was 12," says Stephen, a 26-year-old from Ballymun, in north Dublin. "It took me away from the life that I was in. I came from a big family and had an awful lot of angry people around me and a lot of drink and drugs. I used to pray to God to take me out and put me in another family. Cannabis took me away for a few hours. [continues 1666 words]
CANNABIS can lower the IQ of young teenagers and may cause permanent mental impairment, research has shown. The most persistent users suffer an average eight- point decline in IQ between adolescence and adulthood, according to the study of more than 1,000 participants. Quitting or cutting down on cannabis later in life did not fully reverse the impact on those who started taking the drug in their early teens. But the study found no evidence of similar problems affecting people who only took up cannabis as adults. [continues 270 words]
On New Year's day, six bodies were found in different parts of Mexico, a relatively peaceful day, if Mexican newspaper La Reforma's usually more metronomic 'Ejecutometro' (execution meter) is considered. Revered Mexican author Carlos Fuentes, a man noted for coy narrative ('to be interpreted by the reader with no endorsement from the teller', according to the New York Times), recently addressed the issue of drugs. He was, for once, quite forward. 'Sometimes we win, sometimes they win', stated the former diplomat. While there have been slight improvements in infamous areas such as Ciudad Juarez, the corpses hanging from bridges, a cartel signature, are spreading into other areas. Areas near Mexico City, once thought to be an oasis for diplomats, corporations and the wealthy, such as Acapulco and Cuernavaca, have suffered recently. A burned out vehicle containing two decapitated bodies was discovered at the entrance to an expensive Mexico City shopping centre. [continues 1031 words]
[top sidebar] Recent labelling of cannabis as a major 'problem drug' may surprise those who have smoked the odd joint in the past. But a new, highly potent strain now being grown in Ireland is more harmful than the drug's benign image would suggest, writes CARL O'BRIEN IRELAND'S FASTEST-growing problem drug is not being sourced from the poppy fields of Afghanistan or remote Moroccan hillsides. It is not arriving into the country in steel shipping containers or being dropped off at remote harbours in the dead of night. [continues 2068 words]
DECRIMINALISATION of drug use in Portugal has not made the country a "paradise" for users or resulted in more children taking drugs, according to the country's drugs chief. Dr Joao Goulao said the policy was part of a comprehensive strategy which has led to reduced drug consumption among adolescents, falling heroin use and a reduced burden on the criminal justice system. Junior Health Minister Roisin Shortall, who is in charge of Ireland's drugs strategy, said she had an "open mind" in relation to Portugal's model. She said she was "particularly interested" in the country's "yellow card" system, which warned users about their behaviour and tried to steer them away from drugs. [continues 391 words]
In 2001, the world's media descended on one of Lisbon's poorer districts. Portugal had become the first country in the EU to decriminalise drug use and the coverage painted a bleak picture of the continent's "most shameful neighbourhood" and "worst drugs ghetto" where addicts openly injected heroin. This "ultra-liberal legislation", it was feared, would lead to drug tourists descending on Portugal. The leader of the country's People's Party, Paulo Portas, said plane-loads of foreign students would head for the Algarve for "sun, beaches and any drug you like". [continues 1169 words]
LEGALISE CANNABIS marches were held in Dublin and Cork on Saturday. Large numbers of participants turned out from an alliance of groups including Cork Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Legalise Cannabis Ireland and the De Criminalise Illegal Drugs group. Participants in the fifth annual Legalise Cannabis marches have stressed that the money that is raised through the drugs trade would be better spent by the Government than by criminal gangs who currently control it. Roscommon-Leitrim TD Luke Ming Flanagan told attendants at the rally in Cork on Saturday afternoon that anyone who believed that legalising cannabis would lead to more people using hard drugs should listen to the facts from the Netherlands. [continues 207 words]
According to the most recent survey, more than a fifth of Irish people have tried cannabis, with men and young people more likely to have used the drug RUTH IS A SUCCESSFUL marketing professional, living in Dublin with her partner, who works long hours. Like the rest of us she likes to unwind after a hard day. Unwinding for the 40-year-old means smoking cannabis, which she does a few times a week. "Instead of going to the fridge and getting a glass of wine I have maybe half a joint and then go for a bath. I smoke frequently, but I don't smoke an awful lot, and I have to say I enjoy my smoking. I consider it a real positive in my life." Unlike Luke "Ming" Flanagan TD, who earlier this week announced his decision to quit smoking cannabis in Ireland, Ruth has no plans to bin her stash. She started smoking grass 20 years ago on a J1 trip to the US and hasn't stopped since. Her cannabis supply is purchased in bulk twice a year from a relation and stored in the freezer. "It freezes well as long as it's sealed correctly," she says. [continues 1292 words]
INDEPENDENT TD Luke "Ming" Flanagan says he hopes the media will focus on the issues for which he stands, following his decision to quit smoking cannabis in Ireland. "I think the media had become addicted to my smoking habits," the Roscommon-South Leitrim TD told The Irish Times last night. "I hope now that I will receive the same treatment as former taoiseach Brian Cowen, Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar and Fianna Fail's Eoin Ryan, all of whom admitted in Hot Press interviews to having experienced same," he said. [continues 417 words]
We are a group of public and private-sector doctors from more than 30 countries who treat patients with drug problems. As such, we feel compelled to respond to Ian O'Doherty's writings on February 18 and again on February 22 calling for the sterilisation of people who use drugs. The bigoted attitude adopted by the author defies belief and his hatred of drug users is so deep that he wishes them dead. We are astonished that a mainstream Irish newspaper would print such a vitriolic and disgusting article. [continues 357 words]
In response to the letter by 'A Chocolate User' published on December 24, I would like to make clear that, yes, I am quite aware that cocaine is illegal and the products I listed such as chocolate and petrol are not. However, this is precisely the point of drug legalisation -- the majority of harm caused by illegal drugs is a result of their prohibition. Kevin Myers argued that the consumption of cocaine and other illegal drugs supports gangland crime, but this would not be the case if such drugs were legalised. An historical precedent is clear in the foolish efforts to criminalise alcohol in the US, which led to increased consumption of the drug and spiralling crime rates. [continues 93 words]
A PRISON officer has been arrested by gardai on suspicion of attempting to smuggle drugs into Mountjoy Prison. The Irish Prison Service said the officer (39) was caught in possession of cocaine, heroin and cannabis when he arrived at the jail to begin work at 7.30am yesterday. The drugs, which were strapped to his leg, were identified during a screening by security guards at Mountjoy Prison. A spokesman for the Irish Prison Service said this type of security screening was routine. [continues 345 words]
Medical advice is being sought by the Republic's Department of Health in relation to cannabis-based medicinal products. Irish Health Minister Mary Harney confirmed that her department is currently seeking "expert advice on whether or not there is a need, from a clinical perspective, to amend the Misuse of Drugs legislation to allow for the use of cannabis-based medicinal products". However, Ms Harney warned that: "As cannabis is the drug which is most abused in Ireland, I am reluctant to loosen the controls on its use." [continues 248 words]
VOICE OF EXPERIENCE: We should look at the facts available rather than our moral intuition when dealing with the consumption of drink and drugs, writes RICHARD MacCARTHY MANY OF us have wondered how the economists, governments and bankers did not learn from past recessions and were unable to foresee our current crisis. Others admonish the UK and the United States for not learning from their experiences in Vietnam and Northern Ireland while they continue to attempt to forcefully bring peace to Afghanistan. [continues 1609 words]
Inside Ireland
