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| 100 drugs were temporarily legalized in Ireland this week. Image: Shutterstock |
Lawmakers in Ireland have moved today to close a loophole
that temporarily made it legal to possess Ecstasy, crystal methamphetamine,
ketamine, magic mushrooms, and many other recreational drugs.
The error occurred earlier this week, when an appeals court
invalidated one section of the Misuse of Drugs Act of 1977. A man being prosecuted for possession of
methylethcathinone challenged the High Court by saying that current regulations
were unconstitutional. While the High
Court had previous ruled in the government’s favor, this time they went with
the prosecution, ruling that 100 of the drugs listed in the 1977 Act had not
been added by the Irish Parliament and were therefore exempt from restrictions.
This effectively means that, for a short time, it is legal
in Ireland to possess these drugs.
Selling, supplying, importing, or exporting them is still illegal,
however.
In a written statement released on Tuesday, Minister for
Health Leo Varadkar pointed to the emergency legislation he introduced to
counteract this loophole, saying that it would “re-instate the status quo ante and re-control all drugs that
were controlled prior to this judgment."
Varadkar’s
legislation is expected to be approved by the President today, which would make
possession of those drugs illegal as of midnight. Varadkar stressed the health risks of the
temporarily legalized drugs, saying that they outweigh any perceived benefit.
Interestingly,
heroin, LSD, cannabis, and cocaine were not affected by any of this, remaining
illegal throughout.
Though
these rulings could potentially have an impact on some substance possession
cases, it’s likely that only a small number of those dealing with existing
convictions will actually be eligible to appeal. The Director of Public Prosecutions may have
to look at each case individually.
An overhaul of related legislation is expected later this year.
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