People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny has castigated the government for imposing a nine-month timed amendment to his The Misuse of Drugs (Cannabis Regulation) Bill 2022, which passed its first reading in November '22 unopposed and would decriminalise the possession of up to 7 grams of cannabis and 2.5 grams of cannabis resin.

Speaking at this morning's Taoiseach's Questions in the Dáil, Leo Varadkar proffered: "I met with the Chairman of the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Policy last week, and there are three takeaways for me from what he said. One is that we need an Irish model – we shouldn't just try and copy models from other countries. Another is that they've made a lot of recommendations, it's not just about decriminalisation. He doesn't want all the focus to be on that. And if it's going to be examined by an Oireachtas Committee, it should be a Special Committee, not the Health Committee or the Justice Committee because it's relevant to both areas and, indeed, other areas like Education. So our intention is to refer the report to a Special Oireachtas Committee. We'll bring a memo to Cabinet about that next week. One of the things the Special Oireachtas Committee will have to tease out is what does decriminalisation really mean in a legal context."

Reacting to the Taoiseach, a disappointed Gino Kenny says: "Passing this bill today would have allowed it to go to the committee stage where we could have had this conversation and actually started taking meaningful first steps towards realising the recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly. Despite the recommendations for decriminalisation and a health lead approach from the Citizens' Assembly the government opted to kick the can down the road another nine months."

In the Daíl to support Kenny was MEP Luke 'Ming' Flanagan whose previous Cannabis Regulation Bill was heavily defeated in 2013, but made cannabis an increasingly mainstream political issue.

"No one in the Dáil press gallery for the debate on cannabis," he rues. "What's that about? There will be thousands of stories written in national, regional and local newspapers in the next year on cannabis convictions. So obviously it's considered news to them. Why then the no show?

"Searched the word 'Cannabis' on IT and Indo websites. 6,997 articles on Irish Times page. 10,000 on Indo page. But it still isn't of enough interest to them to turn up in person when a TD proposes legislation which would change the status quo on a law relating to cannabis. Why?"

Ming went on to add: No one from the Green Party bothered to contribute to a the Dáil debate on cannabis and the misuse of drugs. A party that claims to agree with change. Why say it and then run away from it? Pathetic. Nothing new from them."

It now seems highly likely that a full addressing of the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Policy's recommendations won't happen until after the General Election. Hot Press' opinion being that it's typical prevarication from a government that didn't need a Citizens' Assembly to fix our clearly broken drug laws. We'd also point to the pilot Dublin Supervised Injecting Facility green-lit by government in 2015 and yet to open with likely hundreds suffering overdose deaths as a result. Bottom line is that it's not just a priority for Leo or Michéal.

The delay to Gino Kenny's bill comes in the same week that the Mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, categorically stated that the War On Drugs can't be won and, in addition to cannabis, called for the regulation of cocaine, ecstasy and other drugs in Holland, and suggestions that Finland might be moving towards the legalisation of cannabis.

The highlight of the debate on Cannabis had to be publican Danny Healy Rae talking about the gateway theory on drugs.

— Luke 'Ming' Flanagan (@lukeming) January 31, 2024

"After more than 50 years of war on drugs, Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema wants to regulate the market for cocaine, ecstasy & other drugs. Repression does not work"

Editorial in the Dutch Financial Daily, following last weeks' conference on regulation https://t.co/bTILvnqTl7… pic.twitter.com/WhavmXk9Nw

— Steve Rolles (@SteveTransform) January 30, 2024

I wonder if the Bill was debating TD salaries would it have been delayed 9 months. https://t.co/3XZlY2xmON

— Little Collins CBD Dispensary (@little_cbd) January 30, 2024