Would the decriminalisation and / Legalisation of controlled substances improve or hinder the economic, health and social circumstances of drugs users, their families, communities and society?
This essay will briefly outline the current policies on drugs in Ireland and will examine the policies and substance misuse from a European and international perspective; then it will discuss how decriminalisation of drugs and substances can improve or hinder the economic, health and social circumstances of drug users, their families, communities and society in general. Examples of controlled substances in Ireland include cocaine, heroin, methadone, cannabis (full list of controlled substances found in the schedule Misuse of Drugs Act 1977).
The term decriminalisation has different meanings by different schools of thought depending on the circumstances it is being applied to. Decriminalisation
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However, there are many that argue that the decriminalization of possession of drugs would redirect focus of the law enforcement system of any country to put more effort into arresting dealers and big time criminals, instead of arresting minor criminals for mere possession, and thus be more effective. It also has more focus on the drug user instead of drug lords which is a more humane approach as compared to the others. Decriminalisation then includes diversion programmes instead of incarceration. Decriminalisation also removes the stigma attached to a criminal conviction for the use of