REHAB BOSS URGES DECRIMINALISATION OF ALL ILLEGAL DRUGS

THE head of the country's biggest drug centre is calling for the
decriminalisation of the use of all drugs - including heroin.

The director of the Merchant's Quay Project, Tony Geoghegan, said that
labelling addicts as criminals reduces their chances of rehabilitation and
introduces them to crime circles.

He said he did not want to see drugs legalised, but believed their misuse
should no longer be dealt with under the criminal justice system. He said
it should be treated as a health and social problem instead.

Mr Geoghegan believes laws governing the use of all drugs here should be
based on the British model of the decriminalisation of cannabis, which
makes possession of the drug legal, but not production or supply.

His comments come after research published this week shows the illegal
drugs industry is worth UKP 10 million a week. The report from the Health
Research Board found cannabis to be the most common drug, with 370m worth
coming into the country in 2003. Mr Geoghegan said the findings present the
Government with a fresh challenge to decriminalise the drug. "A huge amount
of cannabis use is recreational and experimental. There is no evidence to
suggest that its users go on to be habitual users of other drugs," he said.

Last year criminal proceedings were brought against just over 4,000 people
for possession of cannabis, while 115 people were prosecuted for growing
cannabis plants. A garda spokesperson said cannabis is treated the same way
as any other "controlled" substance: "We don't make any differentiation
between them."

Mr Geoghegan, who helps hundreds of heroin users in the capital, said: "I
think resources used for prosecuting cannabis users could be more
effectively targeted."

According to the Prison Service, 278 people served prison sentences for
drug offences in 2004 and 150 of these served sentences of less than a year.

Ninety-six of these prisoners were prescribed methadone in prison.

Mr Geoghegan believes imprisoning drug users leads to a vicious circle.

"Sending people to prison for12 months does not address the problem of why
they were using drugs in the first place," he said.