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THE TRAGIC CASE in Cork is a reminder of the failures in our approach to drugs in responding after-the-fact to emergencies instead of putting in place proactive measures to identify contaminates and high-purity drugs in the market.
People are posed with health risks when consuming illegal drugs by virtue of them being unregulated and policy should aim to reduce the harm.
82% of students have tried illegal drugs in their lifetime, according to the National Student Drug survey and so it affects people from all walks of life. Everyone could imagine at least one relative or friend that could be part of this 82%.
Promoting safety
We need a health system that provides for them and allows them to be safe. Drug testing facilities are available in the UK, Spain and Portugal as part of a health-based approach and they are saving lives.
As we dispell early speculation and rumours of the case in Cork, it’s important to repeat the facts of the case here. 25I-NBOMe was consumed at a party of young people in Cork on Monday night.
It’s important to remember that doses vary for different drugs. For example, there are 2,000 doses for one gram of 25I- NBOMe (one gram being about the size of a €2 coin). Without information on contents and dosing, there is no sure way for a person to know how much to take as well as what they are taking.
Drug-testing facilities reduce risk by providing lab reports for drug contents. When taken in a holistic approach to include education around dosing and harm reduction, this approach could save lives and prevent a situation like this from occurring in the future.
The issue can no longer be ignored. That is why we are holding an important conversation on drug-testing and harm reduction at our upcoming symposium next week in Dublin.
Political engagement in policy
However, some of our elected officials think the issue can be swept under the rug, thus undermining the importance of this debate. One politician responded to our invitation saying,
I cannot attend. I would think that lobbying for changes to legislation during an election period would be a waste of your time.
The fear of engaging with this topic during election time is not an adequate excuse and it shows how ineffective certain politicians are. The health and wellbeing of our citizens is not any less important at election time as any other time.
Our elected officials should never be afraid to discuss policies. It will be very clear who the honest politicians are going by who attends the symposium. It will be the brave politicians that engage with difficult topics that are worth voting for in this election.
The lesson we need to take from this is that health services need to take a proactive approach in providing information and safer guidelines to people as part of a drug testing programme. This could include having drugs tested with lab equipment at festivals and nightclubs with cooperation of the gardaí and festival organisers as trialled in Boom Festival in Portugal and the Manchester Warehouse Project.
Saving lives
In these cases, drugs and their contents are displayed on stage screens, by mobile app or online. Providing emergency warnings before a person consumes a drug could potentially save their life and protecting a person’s life should always the goal of policy.
Less emergencies would mean a reduction in the rate of ambulance call-outs and accident and emergency resources. By not actively collecting data of drug samples in the market, the job of emergency doctors is made more difficult.
In this case there was a 24-hour wait to have the drugs tested and it can take weeks to find out precise contents. Only by identifying contents before someone gets into difficulty will we be able to treat emergencies more effectively and prevent misuse of drugs in certain situations.
This more honest approach may also be a more effective way to educate people and it could allow more opportunities for people to seek help, ask questions and learn.
Perhaps the closest country to home is Wales with the WEDINOS project, which tests drug samples that are mailed into a government-funded laboratory. Josie Smith of Public Health Wales leads this project and says, “We are funded by the Welsh government with the recognition that people will experiment with a range of drugs because they are far more accessible than ever before”.
Wales has opted for a pragmatic approach to drugs and Ireland should of the same.
Now is an important time as ever to discuss drug policy and Josie Smith will be presenting the health-based approach in Wales at the upcoming symposium.
Graham de Barra is Director of Help Not Harm, a campaign supporting a shift of drugs from criminal justice to public health in order to improve access to harm reduction, education and treatment. The conference will be held on Thursday 28 January in Buswells Hotel, Dublin at 9am. If you are interested in attending the Help Not Harm Symposium, please email grahamdebarra@helpnotharm.org for further details.
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Dirty savage, 8 years not enough!
I ask this as a serious question. Would the general public agree with chemical castration for men who do something like this?
I would Creamy! Your name in certain circumstances is a bit…well
You need to watch more family guy joan…although that might only confirm your suspicion..
Totally disagree with the chemicals. Knife much better and I am serious.
How could she have been a teenager for 9 years?
I would vote YES!
Rape is about violence ! Not just self-gratafacation ? I think boiled slowly in hot oil might surffice?
8 years for raping a child. Sometimes the law just seems so inadequate
Horrible excuse for a man . Dirty rapist 8 years is not enough.
No punishment is great enough for ruining a innocent life .
Agreed, but I could think of a few that I’d like to try out.
8 years!
Should be at least double that for each person he brutalised.
But at least he is serving a life sentence in daily life when he gets out.
His life will be an absolute misery! Probably worse than being inside!
I wonder what goes through the minds of judges when they pass light sentences of eight years for such a monstrous act , when the prosecutors asked for 10 to 12 years? Is it misplaced compassion or are they completely out of touch. Child rapists should be given a life sentence. I’d have no problem with castration either.
Ll fine calling for life for rape , but think about this- why would a rapist leave his victim alive to bear witness against him when he would get a lesser sentence if he kills her.
By giving severe sentences for rape increases the potential for MURDER, think about that if ur sister or daughter does not come on time.
Sorry come home on time.
Pedophiles, rapists and child molesters or any kind should be locked up for life, and have there basic human rights taken away because they aren’t human, they should be given, basic food and little to no time out side there cells !!
How about we place a rat on their tummy and seal with a metal helmet ! How do u think the rat will find it’s way out????
He should get a bullet. Simple as that.
i think we’ve become too politically correct.there is 7billion people on this planet and money is tight,so bugger it just put him down(with a cheap medicine)along with others who do this type of thing.REALLY why can’t they just do it?
the above comment from robert smith was actually posted by me gavan smith.we use the same computer and it was logged onto robert smith’s facebook page by accident
I have no idea why a certain length sentence is given to people who do this. So if after 8 years, he still has these urges, he has done his time so let him out? People like this should be given a sentence to pay for what they have done but be held for as long as necessary after that time for rehabilitation. If that can’t be achieved then they should choose chemical castration or life in a facility. I thought the whole point of laws, courts and jail was not only to punish people when they have committed a crime but was to keep society safe.
The whole point of punishment to fit the crime is lost on the judicial system and it needs to reflect the times. There is so many reports like this one that surely the whole system needs to be looked at. I’m not for a second suggesting that this is a new crime and it wasn’t being committed in the past but now that there is plenty of research done on this type of offender and their likelihood of reoffending it seems a crime in itself not to devise a sentence that is suitable.
Absolutely Liz. Well said. Interesting article on the subject
Death
I presume the last sentence is a typo?
Perhaps it is worth considering …..by undermining the traditional values/foundations of society…this is what you get…fer pities sake ….you liberals…fer pities sake….whatever next…
Mason change your name. I suggest Manson? You deranged creep!!
…..@ Martstjon…Before pressing submit…best you think about what you are saying …clearly must explain to the uneducated amongst us ….back when yer man were a boy homosexual acts were considered criminal…by making such depravity acceptable the foundations of respectability …of society were weakened…it is sugested this contributed …by degrees to the perverse amongst us thinking “well if homosexualiy is acceptable..all forms of self gratification must be OK” …thus society saw the behaviour of such as the French Tennis coach and the American Football coach take place and continue to this day..when the liberals amongst us condone same gender marriages…the adoption of the young by these people…how long will it be before the act of the pedophile will become acceptable ….along with incest…take it further ….cannibalism…..break the rules expect the unexpected…rules were made in sociey for well founded reasons…break them and the flood gates are opened….you cant have your cake and eat it …..Do you now understand? …..consider, before abusing others….
….it is pointless coming up with all these medieval ways of dealing with people who are socially unacceptable….we have to ask ourselves why people do such….what is happening to respectable behaviour…It be suggested that the Liberal..”progressives” in our midst….by condoning that which in the past was totally unacceptable….suggest to those unable to quell socially unacceptable desires….that self gratification of any form needs no restraint…This may be seen in film/ staged performance/ art /literature/ www sites/ magazines/popular music lyrics….Possibly alright for the minority seen as “we’ll balanced” a totally subjective notion…dependent on who/what/where you are….That said overall…most people are generally uneducated unable to form an opinion if it is against the trend the so called “progressive” mindset…..This fear of being rebuked by fellow man leads us down the avenue of “anything goes” the erosion of standards of civilisation… as the majority would like to see it ….As a teacher of Humanities KS9 to KS12…it is with dismay the notions of young minds are so easily influenced by the popular media….No the answer is not known! other than to discourage rather than encourage that which is felt to be unacceptable….
@mason…typos…homosexuality…well….
@mason …young people…are seen to be so easily influenced…..
…@MartStJohn….an apology for your abuse will be graciously accepted….courtesy costs nothing …perhaps a little loss of face…which does nobody any harm….
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