The Irish War on Drugs by Paul O' Mahony

In June 1971, US President Richard Nixondeclared a ‘war on drugs’. Drugs won.

AIMS:1] Parse and analyse the official language on drugs policy, both national and international Because it underplays the role of the criminal law, is confused on harm reduction and relies on an inadequate economic analogy (supply and demand reduction).2] Provide a history and analysis of the drugs problem and the criminal justice response in Ireland over the last 35 years.3] Arguing the case for and against prohibition from this evidence and other theoretical and evidential bases4] Explain the reluctance to abandon prohibition despite the overwhelming evidence against it

DRUGS & CRIMEImportation, manufacture, trade, and possession, other than byprescription, of most psychoactive substances are defined ascriminal by Irish law. Prohibition creates inherent drug crime.Connections betweendrugs and other types ofcrime, such as theft fromthe person, burglary,larceny, tax evasion,intimidation andhomicide, are very strongin Ireland. Keogh (1996)attributed two-thirds of allindictable crime in Dublinto opiate users.There are many viciously negative synergies in drugs/crime connection

Goldstein (1985) has made a useful distinction between the ways drugs lead to or increase violent crime:1) the direct pharmacological effects of drugs on brain and behaviour –disinhibition, aggression, paranoia;2) the ‘economic compulsive’ need to support continued drug use – financing the next fix through theft, fraud etc.;3) the ‘systemic violence’ associated with the control of markets, transactions, debt collection, and supply and distribution networks – related to the potentially huge profits to be made, if you are prepared to defy the law.

There are also many others types of drug-relatedcrime: Criminal damage & degradation of the environment Tax evasion Nuisance behaviour and bullying in a locality Neglect & abuse of children and dependents Drug-driving

An Endemic drugs culture The CJS response and its effects The drugs gang Socioeconomic and cultural change

D rug s c ha rg e s 1 9 6 9 -2 0 0 1 9000 8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 1969 1971 1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001The current problem has evolved in a gradual way over 40 years.The current generation of users and gangs has been shaped by theprevious generations. This point is especially important withrespect to the role of gangs, the escalation in the use of violenceand general attitudes towards drugs.The penal system and prisons have been part of this evolution andgreatly contributed to the seriousness of the present endemicproblem.

About 300 of nearly9000 drug crimes in2001 led to prisonsentences - 3.5%.But we have draconianmandatory sentencingwhich often makesexamples of relativelyinnocent and lowlydrugs mules coercedby desperatecircumstances.Only a handful of thescores of drug gangkillers have beenbrought to Justice.

In 2005, a survey of the psychiatric status of Irishprisoners found that 59% of male sentencedprisoners had a drug dependency problem and 45%an alcohol dependency problem. Prisons wereineffective at rehabilitation but became the country’slargest methadone clinics.Only 26% of sentenced prisoners had neither a drugnor an alcohol dependency problem.In fact, one survey of prisoners suggests that asmany as 21% of intravenous (IV) drug users firstinjected drugs while in prison.Drugs became the central obsession of prison life,elevating violence and intimidation inside andhelping spread destructive use, attitudes andcriminal behaviours throughout the country

The Dublin prisons and Mountjoy Prison in particularbecame the“epicentre of destructive drug-taking in Ireland,playing a major role in the spread of pro-drugsattitudes and of seriously damaging forms of druguse.They became the centre of a virulently powerfuldrugs culture, notable for its embrace of recklesshedonism and mindless risk. In short, the veryinstitution, prison, which was intended to be themain instrument of general and individualdeterrence from drug use, became a hothouseenvironment, nurturing destructive drug use,unhealthy patterns of behaviour and wildlypro-drug attitudes.” ‘Key Issues for drug policy in Irish prisons’ Drug Policy Action Group (2008)

Paradoxes of the ‘War’ on drugs

The drugs gang Gang culture is a perfect fit for the drugsbusiness and gang formation is a natural andordinary social process The traditionally family-based ‘criminal’ gangculture in Ireland has evolved very rapidly throughthe drugs era, embracing stigma, criminality andviolence and turning them to their own advantage.Children in this situation are directly socialised intocriminality. But many young boys who have been well-parented get caught up in gangs through interactionwith peers and when they venture out into the worldand their awareness of the world expands.

Key motives (particularly strong in teenagers) for joining a delinquent or antisocial gang include:1) need for personal identity, independent of family2) need to belong, get acceptance, attention & support of peers, substitute family3) pride – need to gain respect, status and honour4) fear – need for protection in a dangerous world5) excitement and challenge – driven by boredom and sense of helplessness and hopelessnessSteps like joining a gang have an almostirrevocable momentum.

Antisocial gangs evolve in order to solve problems posed bythe social world in which the members find themselves living. Tough and unfair conditions create tough and unfair people(but not always). Teenagers, who have failed at school and sport, join gangs toacquire status and hit back at the school and the broader socialsystem, which have branded them as failures. Gangs and their members channel their resentment andfrustration into defiance and a hard man lifestyle. Toughness,domineering attitudes and a readiness to use violence are themain currency. Immature brains and personalities are making wrong turnsbefore they can even read the map of life…. Moral short-circuiting(they learn to be brutal before fully appreciating what brutal is)

The drugs business is a huge attractionfor gangs, offering pleasure, excitement, proof ofautonomy and toughness as well as a hugelyprofitable, ‘negatively glamorous’ occupation.Over the last 35 years, because of the highfinancial stakes and the chaotically self-regulatednature of the criminal drugs market, which relieson intimidation, drugs gangs have becomeprogressively more violent, brutal and callous.Eventually embracing a macho gun culture.Hundreds of thousands of basically normal,essentially non-criminal, Irish citizens colludewith the criminal suppliers, making the criminalsubculture almost immune to the efforts of lawenforcement.

Many of the major social and technologicalchanges of the last 50 years have had positiveaspects, but they have also had a negative,fragmenting influence on the Irish communityand the belief systems that used to hold ittogether.Changes have weakenedcore social bonds : church, extended family, neighbourhood solidarity shared value systems.

New stresses have emerged in a morework, money and ‘success’ focused society. Consumerist, materialist lifestyle More competition in education and work Increased pace and intensity of life (ICT; commuting/child care) Massive change in sexual mores (confusion for male self-image) Expectations risen enormously (driven by advertising/PR) Globalisation: homogenisation of values led by electronics-base monoculture

All these interacting changes have impacteddramatically on the way of life and on the quantityand quality of crime. They help explain why peoplein modern Ireland are so susceptible to the allureof drugs. Alienation – cynicism about politics and communal values & lack of awareness of interdependence. Exclusion - The widening gap between aspiration and reality for some young people leading to profound resentment and anger. Social inequality is more powerful in creating crime than individual factors and is the aspect most amenable to change. Hedonistic culture of release, license and excess (sometimes violent) partly in response to stress, competition, regulation, alienation and exclusion.

The key question is whether the use of the criminal lawagainst drugs causes more harm than it prevents. Prohibition has utterly failed to eliminate or even contain drug use. On the contrary the last 30 years has witnessed exponential growth in the use of drugs, in drug-related harms and in pro- drug attitudes amongst the young. Drugs are cheaper and more widely available than ever. All the dreadful, drug-related harms and the serious drugs- linked deterioration in the quality of life in Irish communities have occurred under a prohibitionist regime. Prohibition has created a criminal monopoly that enriches those ruthless enough to use violence and intimidation in order to turn a profit. Prohibition is a precondition for this criminal culture.

We have an almost universal and almost irrestistibleurge to indulge in mood-altering substances.We also have an innate predisposition favouringautonomy; we consider our own bodies andconsciousness as our own business and underpersonal control. Young people especially resistattempts at control.The developing human rights culture recognisesand supports individual freedom and bodily integrity.Laws that strain against human nature willalways flounder.The hypocrisy and self-contradiction of prohibition(the widespread use of alcohol, medically-prescribed drugs etc) undermines the effectiveness (credibility) of education and prevention.

Prohibition encourages a clandestine situation wherecriminal pushers and even users have a vestedinterest in mystifying drug use and spreading andmaintaining ignorance.The whole drugs culture takes on a negative glamour that is very appealing to rebellious youth. Drug use‘proves’ maturity and independence. The ignorance, mystique and excitement that surround the clandestine drugs market greatly diminish people’s natural prudence and instinct for self-preservation. Forbidden fruit.The failure of prohibition to distinguish between lessand more dangerous drugs and ways of using them andbetween legal and illegal drugs undermines the ability toeducate, warn and dissuade.

Abandoning prohibition promises the benefits ofquality control, regulation, redirecting massive futilelaw enforcement expenditure to more productivetreatment and prevention and, most importantlyand essentially, severing the drugs crime link.Severing the link with crime is a precondition forsuccessful decriminalization and this implies completelegal toleration of individual choice for all drugs andforms of use. However some drugs and forms of use are so dangerous and the addiction process is so seductive that a laissez-faire approach is not an option. Complete decriminalization is not justified and should not be undertaken without a massive proactive and constant campaign of education, prevention and treatment (short only of coercive – law enforcement activity).

COSTS Human Nature BENEFITS Human Rights Personal Crime responsibility Quality Control Violence End to HR Taxation Global Disorder infringements Redirection Spread: End to unjust of funds of Ignorance Punishment Unfettered harm of Destructive use Nature/Law Reduction Geopolitical Credible stability educationNECESSARY CONDITIONS:Full legalisation, not medicalisationEquanimity in face of continued use and problemsUbiquitous and energetic educational programmes againstdestructive use of drugsReal progress towards social justice

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The Irish War on Drugs by Paul O' Mahony

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The Irish War on Drugs by Paul O’ Mahony Presentation Transcript