No legalisation of cannabis 'for recreational purposes'

Cannabis will not be made legal "for recreational purposes" in the foreseeable future, but may be made available under controlled circumstances for medicinal purposes, the Minister of State with responsibility for drugs strategy, Mr Noel Ahern, said yesterday.

"I'm not against the medical people using it, but that's an issue for them," he said at the publication of a report by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs: An Overview of Scientific and other Information on Cannabis.

"But we have to make a huge distinction between it being licensed under strict rules and criteria for medical purposes and any move towards legalising it for recreational purposes.

"If the medical people think there is value in it, and there is some evidence in that direction, I wouldn't have an objection to that. It would not be in the form of a few joints being thrown around psychiatric hospitals or anything like that. It would be an extract of cannabis used in a licensed and controlled way."

Mr Ahern said while the British government had declassified cannabis from a Grade B to Grade C drug, meaning police there effectively tolerate some levels of use, there would be no such move in the Republic.

Mr Ahern said he was concerned that any change here to the legal status of cannabis might be interpreted by sections of the public as the State saying "this isn't so dangerous".

He added: "What they have done (in the UK), more or less, is they've brought their laws into line with ours. There was always discretion for gardaí and the Irish courts, so they are coming into line with us rather than doing anything terribly innovative."

There were clear links between cannabis use among the young and early school drop-out rates. Use of the drug was also linked to health problems such as increased risk of contracting cancer. Cannabis users had also proven more susceptible to depression, which led to suicide in many cases.

The Irish Medicines Board said, while responsible for licensing drugs, it only does so after an application for a licence is received from a manufacturer.

Dr Des Corrigan, chairman of the NACD, said there was a need for a much greater level of information on the use of cannabis in Ireland. We were "woefully ignorant" in some areas, including the potency of cannabis on the Irish market, and the levels self-harm caused by use of the drug here.

Mr Johnny Connolly, a criminologist working with the NACD, said cannabis often resulted in aggressive behaviour among juveniles. It continued to be the most prevalent illicit drug in the Republic, accounting for 53 per cent of all drug seizures last year and 70 per cent of all drug-related prosecutions. This underlined the need for more research on the use of the drug here.