TD's Gino Kenny and Violet-Anne Wynne set to visit Limerick man jailed for selling cannabis

People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny and Independent TD Violet-Anne Wynne are set to visit Limerick prison tomorrow. They will be visiting Patrick Moore, a father who was sentenced to five years in prison in 2022 for providing cannabis oil to people with long-term illnesses.

Legally, only medical consultants can prescribe cannabis in Ireland and are restricted to a small offset of patients with distinct medical conditions. Moore illegally gave cannabis oil to a number of sick patients, including an elderly man with Huntington’s Disease and a boy who was diagnosed with leukaemia. Both patients allege that Moore's oils had a positive impact on their health.

TD's Kenny and Wynne believe that Moore's imprisonment is outlandish, and seek to use this visit to influence Irish cannabis policy.

“People like Patrick should not be in prison. Its unconscionable good people like Patrick would be incarcerated for simply trying to help people and alleviate their suffering,” said Kenny ahead of the visit, adding that Justice Minister Simon Harris should intervene in the case.

“Our outdated drug policy has failed this man [Moore], his family, and all those who were receiving treatment," joined Wynne. "Ireland has the most restrictive medical cannabis access programme. I stand with Patrick who is trying to achieve relief for those in pain.”

The TD's believe that current cannabis policies push people who could be helped with medical cannabis toward the blackmarket.

“It’s so restrictive and so many people just cannot get access," said Kenny. “We need a different model and that model is regulation."

In 2022, Kenny presented legislation to decriminalise possession of up to 7 grams of cannabis for personal use. He emphasised that the bill didn't seek to legalise the drug, but simply decriminalise it.

"The reality is that tens of thousands of people use cannabis. Consuming or possessing a relatively small amount can land a person in court or worse still a criminal record," Kenny remarked at the time.

In 2020, there were 11,127 prosecutions cannabis possession in Ireland.