Some 120 participants from community drug projects, voluntary projects, youth services, drugs task forces, government departments and universities attended the conference at which four speakers made presentations – Brigid Pike, Health Research Board (HRB); Liam Herrick, Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT); Johnny Connolly, HRB; and Niamh Eastwood, Release. Brief reports on their presentations are provided in the following pages.2
Following the presentations, participants took part in table discussions on the barriers to decriminalisation and what the international evidence tells us about the issue. There was general, but not complete, agreement that the evidence for decriminalisation is convincing, while the issues around legalisation appear to be complicated. It was also noted that the underlying issues of poverty and social disadvantage remain crucial to addressing the impact of drugs on the lives of people, families and communities.
In closing the conference, the chairperson of CityWide, Anna Quigley, stated that the conference was a first step. See the new column in this issue of Drugnet – Towards UNGASS 2016 – for the next step taken by CityWide to promote the debate.
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1. The conference was organised on foot of a commitment made by CityWide in 2012 to hold an open debate on decriminalisation. See Higgins M (2012) The drugs crisis: a new agenda for action. Dublin: CityWide. www.drugsandalcohol.ie/17145
2. A written report on the conference and videos of the four presentations are available at www.citywide.ie/news/2013/05/27
