Gino Kenny calls for decriminalisation and cannabis legalisation
Gino Kenny spoke during the debate on 8 July 2021 about a bill targeting the proceeds of crime linked to the drugs trade, welcoming the measure while arguing current policy fails communities. He urged a paradigm shift toward decriminalisation, regulation and legalisation and said he will bring a bill in September to regulate and legalise cannabis.
Reaction to the proceeds of crime bill
He commended Sinn Fein for bringing the debate and broadly welcomed the bill as a response to the proceeds of crime that devastate individuals and communities. He said much of those proceeds come from illicit drugs and assets derived from the drugs trade.
Critique of current drug policy
Kenny described Irish drug policy as antiquated and counterproductive, saying criminalising people for drug use does not deter consumption and has been a failure over decades. He emphasised the social and economic drivers of drug use and the damage addiction does to people and communities.
Call for decriminalisation and regulation
Kenny called for a grown-up debate on decriminalisation, regulation and legalisation of certain substances, arguing state regulation can redirect revenue away from criminal gangs. He said he will bring forward a bill in September to regulate and legalise cannabis and urged political will to pursue alternatives to current enforcement.
Enforcement pressures and community impact
He warned the drugs market is vast, fuels grotesque violence by criminal gangs and fills social vacuums left by neglect. He noted large seizures reflect massive demand and that high levels of policing to intercept drugs are not sustainable, while current laws have not reduced use.
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Thank you Chair and I want to commend Sinn Fein in relation to this very, very important debate tonight and we broadly welcome the bill and I think that addresses the proceeds of crime and the spoils of that that kind of devastates individuals and communities and largely the proceeds is from illicit drugs and that's largely from cab and assets is from the drugs trade. Now I have a different view than most in relation to the policy and drugs in Ireland. I think it's antiquated, it doesn't work, criminalising people for drug use is counterproductive and we need to do something very, very different and we need a paradigm shift in relation to how do we actually, how we treat people, how we actually why people take drugs in the first place, why people take drugs in the first place, about inequalities in society and all that and there's obviously a market Minister for drugs, there's a huge market not only in Ireland but across the world it's probably the most possible industry in the world and people make enormous amounts of money, enormous amounts of money and they will use some grotesque violence to get them profits and it does cause chaos in communities. So I've seen in my own community, I've seen in my own community, I've seen in my own community, Deputy Ward is from the same community I'm from, I've seen when I was growing up what drug addiction does to people, what it does to communities, it's pretty, pretty bad and the kind of the socio-economical aspects to that are kind of huge and people turn to drugs for all sorts of reasons, all sorts of reasons. And there's a vacuum minister in society and where that vacuum exists people will fill that vacuum in and usually it's the black market and usually it's criminal gangs and as I said the spoils of that are enormous. And just, you know, we could still be having this perpetual argument in five, ten years' time about, you know, the proceeds of the drug industry. But I think we need to do something very, very, very different. And that difference is, as I said, we need to have a very grown-up debate about decriminalisation, regulation and legalisation of certain substances that people use. I mean, this year alone, there's been enormous amounts of money and drugs being confiscated. One of the main reasons was that there was a lot of guards on the roads and so forth. And that can't be sustained over a long period of time. But it just shows you there's a huge demand for drugs. Just for example, cannabis. In September of this year, I will be bringing forward a bill for the regulation and legalisation of cannabis, right? Now, we'll see what kind of support we get from other parties. But criminalising people for the use of cannabis is a complete waste of time. It's a complete waste of time. Locking people up, complete waste of time. Completely waste of time. Now, in some states, in the United States and other countries, what they've done, and it's been very successful, is that they've taken control. They have taken the regulation of cannabis. And, you know, the revenue from that, instead of going to criminal gangs, it goes to the state. Now, that can work in this country if there's will. And hopefully there is the will. Because the war on drugs is probably, you know, is it about a containment? Is it about kind of keeping working people down? I think it's a number of factors. But the present policies of this government and other governments has been neglect of working class communities. Complete neglect. Because it's not on their doorstep. And if you want to die, go ahead. If you want to take drugs, go ahead. But it's not our responsibility. So, we need to do something very, very, very different. And that difference, Minister, is looking at this completely different from what we've been doing. Because what we've been doing has been a failure. It has been a failure. The demand for drugs now is more than ever. Even though we have laws in place that all these drugs that we talk about are illegal. They're all illegal to have or take. They're all illegal. There's more and more people are taking drugs. Now, not everybody takes drugs, right? But there's more of a demand for drugs. Now, what does that say about our present laws? What does that say? Nobody can actually seriously say to me in this chamber, the laws at the moment make drugs illegal. But at the same time, people are using them. So, there's no deterrent. I don't think there's a deterrent. So, that's why we need to do something very, very, very different from what we're doing. And hopefully, you know, that difference is looking at this completely different from what we've been doing over the last 45 years. Yes. All right. Thank you. Go ahead.
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