Louth TD calls for drug decriminalisation and health-led response to addiction

Louth Labour TD Ged Nash has called for a “transformational” shift in Ireland’s approach to drug use, urging the Government to follow the lead of countries like Portugal and move from a criminal justice response to one rooted in public health. 

Speaking during a Dáil debate on the 'Decriminalisation of People Who Use Drugs motion,' Deputy Nash said Ireland now has a chance to make a “meaningful reduction in the harm caused by drugs.”

Deputy Nash argued that the Portuguese model, where possession of drugs for personal use has been decriminalised, offers clear evidence of the benefits of a health-led approach.

“One thing is crystal clear from the Portuguese example,” he told the Dáil, “moving to a health-based approach away from punishment reduces serious harms from drug use.”

Nash pointed to Portugese example, during which overdose deaths and HIV infections linked to drug use fell dramatically. In 1999, Portugal recorded 369 overdose deaths, but by 2016 that figure had dropped to just 30. Similarly, HIV diagnoses among injecting drug users plummeted from 907 cases in 2000 to just 18 by 2017.

The Louth TD also said that decriminalisation could relieve pressure on Ireland’s overcrowded prison system and free up Garda resources to target organised crime instead of individual users.

“The endless Garda hours used chasing people who use drugs can be turned on those who profit from the misery caused by the sale and trafficking of drugs,” he said.

Nash welcomed the work of the Citizens’ Assembly on Drug Use, whose report called for a “comprehensive health-led response” to possession of drugs for personal use. 

While drug possession would technically remain illegal, the Assembly recommended that people found in possession for personal use should be directed towards voluntary engagement with health-led services instead of facing criminal prosecution.

However, Deputy Nash warned that such a policy would fail without substantial, long-term investment in addiction and recovery services. He cited the Assembly’s Recommendation 18, which calls for “significant additional funding on a multi-annual basis” across statutory, community, and voluntary sectors to fill gaps in treatment provision.

Read Next: Plans for café/restaurant at former landmark brewery in north Louth

“Quite frankly, this has not been the case and has not been so for successive governments,” Nash said. “Without that funding, any policy change will be set up to fail.”

He praised local initiatives like the Red Door Project, which provides community-based addiction support. He said these services, if given more funding, “stand ready, willing and able” to play a central role in a new, health-led drugs strategy.