Irish Labour party calls for health-led drugs policy – Health Spokesperson Marie Sherlock TD has announced that the party will use its Private Members’ Time in the Dáil this week to call for the decriminalisation of drug users and for the creation of a compassionate, health-led drugs policy in Ireland. | Cannabis Law Report | Where to order Skittles Moonrock online

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Labour calls for health-led drugs policy – The Labour Party

Labour’s Health Spokesperson Marie Sherlock TD has announced that the Labour Party will use its Private Members’ Time in the Dáil this week to call for the decriminalisation of drug users and for the creation of a compassionate, health-led drugs policy in Ireland.

Deputy Sherlock said the Government has failed to deliver on its promise of a health-led approach, and that criminalising, shaming and stigmatising people in addiction has created a broken system that punishes rather than supports.

Deputy Sherlock said:

“This Government is failing on drug policy. Labour believes in a system of decriminalisation and a truly health-led approach. It’s time to take problem drug use out of the courts and wrap supports around people who need help. Criminalising, shaming and stigmatising people in addiction leads to a system that undermines and dehumanises those who need our support, care and compassion. It’s time to change it.”

The motion before the Dáil recalls the Citizens’ Assembly on Drug Use and the ongoing work of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Drugs Use, both of which have recognised that criminalisation is not working. It also calls out the lack of progress on commitments in the Programme for Government to deliver a health-led response for people found in possession of drugs for personal use.

Deputy Sherlock said:

“Ireland is falling behind the rest of Europe when it comes to progressive drugs policy. Countries like Portugal took the brave step to decriminalise personal possession. The result was fewer deaths, fewer HIV cases and more people in treatment. They chose health over punishment, and the evidence shows it works.”

Highlighting the escalating crisis, Labour’s motion notes that cocaine is now the most common drug treated in Ireland, accounting for 40% of all treatment cases in 2024. It also points to Ireland’s shocking record on drug deaths, with the European Drugs Report showing that Ireland had the highest level of drug deaths in Europe in 2020.

Deputy Sherlock continued:

“We must begin treating drug use as a public health issue, not a criminal one. That means properly funding treatment services, expanding harm-reduction facilities beyond Dublin to cities like Limerick and Cork, and creating real pathways into housing, employment and support for those dealing with addiction. It also means ensuring people with lived experience are meaningfully involved in shaping our drugs policy and that harm reduction services are adequately funded for the long term.”

The Labour motion calls on Government to establish a dedicated Cabinet Committee on Drugs Use, to rapidly expand safer consumption spaces, to repeal Section 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1997, and to provide multi-annual funding for harm reduction and recovery services.

Deputy Sherlock concluded:

“Drug use is a complex issue rooted in poverty, trauma and inequality. Our response must be based on compassion, not criminalisation. The evidence is clear – decriminalisation saves lives and supports recovery. Labour’s message is simple: we must take drug use out of the courts and put health and humanity at the centre of our approach.”

Motion: Decriminalisation of People who use Drugs

That Dáil Éireann –

recalls:

• the Labour Party motion on drugs policy and decriminalisation of people who use drugs, passed by Dáil Éireann on 30th November 2022;
• the report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Drug Use published in January 2024;
• the interim report of the special Joint Oireachtas Committee on Drugs Use published in October 2024
• the commitment in the Programme for Government to a health-led response for people found in possession of drugs for personal use, with diversion to health services; and the commitment to work collaboratively on any recommendations issued by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Drugs Use;

notes that:

• there has been little progress on achieving these objectives while use of controlled drugs continues to rise;
• since the opening of Ireland’s first medically supervised injecting centre in December 2024, nearly a decade after being first proposed and legislated for, there has been no further progress on the provision of safe consumption spaces;
• the use of cocaine has rapidly increased in Ireland, and Health Research Board figures show it is now the most common drug treated, accounting for 40% of all treatment cases in 2024, a 7% increase on 2023, and a 250% increase over seven years since 2017;
• the potency of drugs being sold for consumption is increasing, and new synthetic drugs continue to be introduced with unknown long-term health impacts;
• the 2024 European Drugs report showed Ireland had the highest level of drug deaths in Europe in 2020, while HRB figures show 286 drug-induced deaths in Ireland in 2021 and 352 in 2020;

calls on the Government to:

• designate the forthcoming National Drugs Strategy as an interim strategy, recognising that the final report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee, mandated to respond to the Citizen’ Assembly, is due in June 2026;
• establish a dedicated Cabinet Committee on Drugs Use to prepare a whole of government response to the policy and legislative changes that will be necessary following the final Committee report;
• swiftly move to develop additional fixed and mobile safer consumption spaces including Mobile Overdose Prevention Centres in our main cities;
• as a matter of absolute urgency implement a comprehensive health led response to the possession of drugs for personal use;
• decriminalise the possession of drugs for personal use by repealing Section 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1997;
• commit to multi-annual funding for harm reduction services, and the resources necessary to support people who use drugs, in accessing health, social and recovery supports;
• ensure appropriate, meaningful, and sustained involvement of people with living and lived experience of drug use in the design, implementation, and evaluation of all drug-related policies and services;
• ensure regulatory oversight of all drug treatment services, with a commitment to person-centred and evidence-informed support programmes.

https://labour.ie/news/2025/11/03/labour-calls-for-health-led-drugs-policy/