People caught with cannabis for personal use are three times more likely to be prosecuted than to receive a Garda caution despite a policy shift away from criminal sanction, a report has found.
A Government analysis of alternatives to coercive sanctions (ACSc) identified nine pathways that already exist and that move away from the traditional criminal justice response. It comes on foot of the Citizens’ Assembly’s support for a health-led response to drug use and a broader European push for member states to embrace alternative responses.
“Criminalisation of drug possession has shown to be ineffective in reducing drug use while concurrently causing harm to individuals and society and placing continual pressure on justice system resources,” notes the report, published on Tuesday.
One such alternative response to possession, the Garda Adult Cautioning Scheme for simple possession, has also had limited use in respect of cannabis, it said. Between December 2020 and last February, a total of 5,139 people were given an official caution compared with the 17,125 people who were prosecuted.
