Citizens' Assembly
Dail Éireann — 2023-01-31
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Gino Kenny (PBP), Dublin Mid-West

My question is the same. The programme for Government stated that there would be a citizens' assembly on drug use and the broader question of decriminalisation. We have waited and waited, but as of yet there has not been a date, which is disappointing. This issue has gone on for decades and the status quo is completely unacceptable. It is unacceptable on the basis that as long as governments do not do anything positive, people will die. That is what we are talking about. We are talking about people's lives. I believe that if we had a different approach to drug use, there would be people still living today. Most people in this country have changed their opinion on maintaining the status quo or even going backwards. I firmly believe that the Irish public now are open to a different approach to drug use. Whatever the recommendations the citizens' assembly gives, it is imperative that the Government implement them. I believe that in the lifetime of this Government, however long it takes, for the sake of people who are living today who will be dead it has to change its stance on the Misuse of Drugs Acts. It does not work.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2023-01-31/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:43+00:00
Sitting date: 2023-01-31