An Open Letter To Peter Power TD

2007-03-05T22:59:00.000Z

While not strictly related to cannabis, I think this letter is worth reading because it raises some valid arguments against the 'banning' or prohibition of certain products as an effective policy.

Peter Power is Limerick East TD for Fianna Fail. He is to "raise the dangers of so-called ‘party pills’ [containing BZP] in the Dáil as part of efforts to ban the sale of the legal drugs which simulate the effects of cocaine, LSD and ecstasy".

Dear Mr. Power,

My name is Kiel Cathers and I am writing regarding your proposals to ban 'party pills' in Irish head shops. I have a problem with this not as a consumer of those products but as a passionate advocate of drug policy reform. I think that drug prohibition creates more problems than it seeks to solve, for example our criminal gang problem is a direct consequence of drug prohibition, drugs being the source of income and power for these gangs. Taking drugs out of the hands of these gangs and into a regulated system of sale would effectively end their existence. So it is for these reasons that I think regulation would be a much more rational route with respect to party pills.

As for the pills themselves I did some research into BZP and found some interesting information. “1 in every 45 (2.2%) last year users of BZP in New Zealand is classed as dependent upon it, although 97.9% of users said that "it would not be difficult to stop using legal party pills", and 45.2% of people who reported using both BZP and illegal drugs such as methamphetamine reported that they used BZP so that they did not have to use methamphetamine, which was perceived as more harmful. Studies undertaken on animals have indicated that BZP can substitute for methamphetamine in addicted rats, although it is ten times less potent and produces correspondingly weaker addictive effects.” – This is interesting since recently a senior policeman in the UK reported that crystal meth was in every city in the UK. It probably won’t be long before it proliferates here. BZP seems to have some preventive measures. Finally, I have a few of questions if you don’t mind:

If banning a drug is the most effective means of dealing with its negative effects on the person, why haven't you called for a similar motion in the Dail banning alcohol and tobacco? It would certainly make sense, considering they kill more people each year than all illegal drugs combined.

What prompted the desire to ban these pills - have any deaths resulted from them? Or are considerable numbers of people addicted?

You say the pills are unregulated, but banning them will place them in the hands of somewhere a lot less regulated and monitored: the black market. Why not introduce legislation which would require warning labels on the packets, or require head shops to operate a strict over 18s policy (no i.d no sale - like we're supposed to have with alcohol and cigarettes)?

Many thanks for reading and I encourage you to reconsider.

Sincerely,

Kiel Cathers

If you'd like to get in touch with Mr. Power, his e-mail is Peter.Power@Oireachtas.ie

Gay Byrne Says Legalise Drugs

2007-02-27T23:21:00.000Z

Gay Byrne, one of Ireland's most respected television broadcasters and chairman of the Road Safety Authority, said on Eamonn Dunphy's radio show last Saturday that illegal drugs should be legalised because attempts to deal with the problem through law enforcement had "demonstrably failed".

He also said that he believed trying to control the drugs problem is a "hopeless task" and that fresh thinking was needed on the issue. "It's a major chasm for me that we should seriously consider legalising drugs. It seems to me that, in no other area of human endeavour, have you tried to cure a problem for 40 years by doing exactly the same thing and finding out that it doesn't work," he said.

These are reasonable enough statements to make. Whether you think drugs should be legalised or not, everyone acknowledges that our current policies are an abject failure. In fact, the only one who continues to flog the dead horse of prohibition is our beloved Grainne Kenny. The Ian Paisley of drugs policy has called for him to resign for the comments he made. She said Mr Byrne's views directly impacted on his role as the chairman of the Road Safety Authority.

Apparently, Gay Byrne suggesting we should consider alternative methods to dealing with the drug problem is no different than admitting that he snorts cocaine off his dashboard every evening when he drives home. It would be a different matter if Byrne had said that smoking a joint won't impair your driving or something. But he didn't.

This is absolute propaganda on Kenny's part. She wants Joe Average to associate the idea of legalising drugs with being a junkie and criminal, and its advocates to be demonised, hell, to lose their jobs!

Her hysterical reaction to this has been absurd and I find it amazing that she gets the media attention that she does when less...insane 'anti-drug' folks are around. I only hope that Gay Byrne isn't negatively effected by all this. I can't find his contact information but I recommend everyone to get behind him. Let's not make talking about legalisation a thoughtcrime!

Centre for Cannabis Policy Reform Ireland Blog

An Open Letter To Peter Power TD

Gay Byrne Says Legalise Drugs