This Bill provides for a maximum of 15 years penal servitude for anyone caught illegally selling for a consideration any of the substances outlined in the Bill. One of the possible defects is that there is no graded scale of penalties in accordance with the report of the working party on drug abuse, brought out last year. We feel that this is an important interim measure. Any amendments which are found necessary to the 15 years penal servitude provision can be brought in at a later date.
We drafted and moved the Bill because the problem of drug abuse has escalated considerably over the past number of years. It is not sufficient for this problem to be dealt with solely by the Minister for Health. On 30th July, 1970, on an adjournment debate, as reported at column 2867 of the Official Report, the Minister said:
The Deputy knows perfectly well that I and the health authorities have taken every possible step to deal with drug addiction here.
At that stage I did not know perfectly well and I still do not know perfectly well that they have done everything possible. The only step taken since 1934 when the Dangerous Drugs Act was passed was the introduction of section 78 of the 1970 Health Act which provided for a fine not exceeding £100 or imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months. This section, also, by definition, included the drug LSD which up to that date had not been included at all and which we know is one of the most widely abused of all drugs in this city.
We would like to say further that under this Bill it should be an offence for anybody to allow his premises to be used for the manufacture of drugs or knowingly to allow peddling to take place on his premises and on conviction he should be sentenced to penal servitude of seven years or have to pay a fine of £500. The Garda Síochána drug squad can obtain a search warrant under subsection (5) of section 78 of the 1970 Health Act, which refers back to section 31 of the 1934 Health Act, but a justice of the District Court must be asked by a chief superintendent of the Garda Síochána to sign the search warrant. It is almost impossible to obtain a search warrant late at night when men of such high standing have got to be obtained, particularly at the weekend. We should make easier provision for obtaining search warrants.
I also want to quote the Minister from the Dáil Debates of 30th July, 1970, when he said:
I shall do my best in this matter but there is no crisis situation in regard to drug addiction in this country and I hope there will not be a crisis. It is no use for a Deputy to get up in this House and make these statements without providing the evidence.
I would like to state that the evidence was provided 12 months ago by the working party on drug abuse when they brought in their report. We feel very strongly about this and we certainly denounce the Minister for Health for playing party politics by not allowing this Bill to be introduced sooner, to appear on the Statute Book and then be amended as desirable in accordance with the wishes of the working party on drug abuse.
