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Bacik: Policy of criminalising cannabis use 'has failed'
Bacik: Policy of criminalising cannabis use 'has failed'

Irish Examiner

time20-05-2025

  • Health
  • Irish Examiner

Bacik: Policy of criminalising cannabis use 'has failed'

Calls have been made for the decriminalisation of drugs as new figures reveal just 64 people have qualified for a medical cannabis programme. Labour leader Ivana Bacik has criticised the Medical Cannabis Access Programme (MCAP), saying the list of qualifying conditions is limiting uptake. "I have heard from some of those who do qualify that the programme is too complex and costly to access," she said. Ireland is among 70 countries that now have medicinal cannabis programmes in place. Spasticity in multiple sclerosis (MS) was the most common condition cited by the doctors for treatment with medical cannabis, followed by pain in MS and epilepsy. There have been 64 applications to date, all of which have been successful, under the Medical Cannabis Access Programme (MCAP) since it came into effect in November 2021. Four people qualified for medical cannabis in the first year of the scheme, with 28 applications approved in 2022 and 21 people approved in 2023. However, the number who qualified under the programme dropped to eight last year, while three people have so far been approved this year. Ms Bacik said: If the MCAP approvals are so low, and dipping further, there must be an examination of whether the scheme is working at all. Calling on the decriminalisation of the drug user through repealing Section 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, she said: "From my previous work as a criminal barrister, I have seen the harm done to individuals who have been brought in front of the criminal justice system for possession of drugs in personal amounts. "Many of those individuals were self-medicating or were using the drug to manage or cope with a health condition. "Clearly, the policy of criminalising the drug has failed. It has wreaked havoc on those who suffer with addiction and on their families. "The very worst harms of a criminalisation policy are experienced by people and communities who are already disadvantaged and marginalised." She said a new reformed approach must operate in the context of strategies to combat poverty and marginalisation too, as well as to ensure timely access to mental and physical healthcare. Ms Bacik also called on the Government to act on the recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly on drugs more broadly. Read More No timeline set for Ava's Protocol on medicinal cannabis in hospitals

Helen McEntee announces ‘largest national conversation on education in the State's history'
Helen McEntee announces ‘largest national conversation on education in the State's history'

Irish Times

time22-04-2025

  • Politics
  • Irish Times

Helen McEntee announces ‘largest national conversation on education in the State's history'

A new national convention, to begin in the coming school year, will be the 'largest national conversation on education in the history of the State', Minister for Education Helen McEntee has said. It is more than 30 years since the last National Education Convention issued its report in 1994, which led to the landmark Education Act and an overhaul of the administrative structures of primary and second-level education. Given the changes that have taken place since, a spokeswoman for the Department of Education said Ms McEntee believed it was timely that work should start on a new National Education Convention. She has instructed officials to advance plans so it can be established 'early in the next school year'. READ MORE The results will inform Ms McEntee's plan for the long-term future of the country's education system, a spokeswoman said. 'It is the minister's intention that this will be a national conversation, with opportunities for all members of the public to contribute,' she said. [ Reducing class sizes 'absolutely achievable' despite spending pressures - McEntee ] An independent chair will lead the process, which will be tasked with examining the 'needs of the teacher workforce into the future, how schools leadership can be supported to deliver for and support students, and how we can achieve an inclusive education system with the best outcomes in the world for all students, regardless of background or ability'. Ms McEntee has told officials she wanted the convention to address the impact of technological advances and how we can best equip young people to 'thrive and succeed in a rapidly changing world'. These questions and others will be addressed by a number of groups, each with their own chair, representing children and young people, education stakeholders, including teachers and parents. In addition, there will be local and regional engagement with communities across the country to hear views on the future of education. The convention will seek to hear from employers to hear what skills they believe the next generation of workers will require and how we can ensure these skills are taught in schools. Civil society groups will be given the opportunity to feed into the work of the body. 'The minister believes that while academic results are an important aspect of education the education system must support the wider wellbeing and personal development of young people as well as place an equal value on a full range of skills and competencies,' a spokeswoman said. [ Second-level teachers to ballot for industrial action over Leaving Cert reforms ] Catherine Byrne, an education campaigner and one of the instigators of a proposal to hold a Citizens' Assembly on the future of education, welcomed the announcement. 'We are particularly struck by the intention to have a national conversation with opportunities for all members of the public to contribute,' said Ms Byrne, a formerly deputy general secretary of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation and founder of the Citizens' Assembly on the Future of Education group. She stressed the importance of listening to the voices of the disadvantaged and others on the margins who do not benefit enough from existing mainstream education system. 'We congratulate the minister and her department for creating this once-in-a-generation opportunity to consider basic questions about the purpose of education at a time of unprecedented change,' she said.

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