Long drugs sentences rare, says report

The use of long sentences for drugs offences in Ireland and other European countries is rare, a report into drugs use in Europe has found.

The report from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction found there were no cases where the offender received the maximum sentence for supply in Ireland in 2007.

While long sentences are expected to act as a deterrent, the data presented showed the use of long prison sentences is rare, the report said.

In Ireland the minimum sentence of 10 years imprisonment for trafficking drugs had only been applied in three of 55 eligible cases between 1999 and 2001. The bulk of the sentences fell in the range six to eight years.

In England and Wales, Sweden and Ireland there were no cases where the offender received the maximum sentence for supplying drugs in 2007, it said.

"The courts justified lower sentences by 'exceptional and specific circumstances' and by most defendants pleading guilty," the report found.

The report also says Ireland is one of only five EU countries that sentences drug offenders to community work instead of prison.

In a separate study, also carried out by the European monitoring centre, Ireland was found to be among countries with a high prevalence of cocaine use. Over 8 per cent of people aged 15 to 34 years used cocaine in Ireland in 2008.