Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 19 September 2012
46. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his views on endorsing the Vienna declaration on drug policy, the official declaration of the XVIII International AIDS Conference - Aids 2010 - which was held in Vienna, Austria, from 18 to 23 July 2010. [39339/12]
View answerIn 2010 the International AIDS Society convened the 18th International Aids Conference in Vienna. As stated in the official declaration of the Conference (also known as the 'Vienna Declaration') the aim of the declaration is to seek to improve community health and safety by calling for the incorporation of scientific evidence into illicit drug policies. The declaration calls on governments and international organisations to undertake a number of measures including a transparent review of the effectiveness of current drug policies, the implementation of a science-based public health approach to address individual and community harms stemming from illicit drug use, decriminalisation of drug users and the meaningful involvement of members of affected communities in developing services and policies etc.
The Government's approach to tackling the problem of drug misuse is through a co-ordinated and integrated approach under the National Drugs Strategy 2009 to 2016 which was developed over an 18 month period and involved wide public consultation under the oversight of the Steering Group established for this purpose. The Strategy tackles the issue of drug misuse under the pillar headings of drugs supply reduction, education and prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and research. The Strategy is being delivered, under the stewardship of my colleague and Minister of State at the Department of Health Roísin Shortall TD, by a number of Government Departments and agencies in partnership with the community and voluntary treatment sectors
The Programme for Government affirms the Government commitment to tackling the problem of drug misuse through the pillar based approach outlined in the Strategy and in partnership with relevant stakeholders. The policy approach outlined in the Strategy is current Government policy in this area and, in the circumstances, there are no plans to adopt or endorse other policy statements on the matter.
