Restorative justice for cannabis makes as much sense as restorative justice for homosexuality or possession of condoms!

A recent court case in Ireland involving a young man (22) whos name and address has been plastered across the internet on media outlets court pages. His crime, being caught in possession of €516 worth of Cannabis plant material (25.8grams @€20/gram=Garda valuation) that he had hidden in the waistband of his pants.

The court was told that on the 23rd of February 2020 (almost 3 years ago) Gardaí on patrol seen a car pull out of “Corduff Grove” so they decided to stop the car. As the guard got to the car window the they could smell cannabis and that the car had 4 occupants in it, to which the defendant was the front seat passenger. He was searched and that’s when the cannabis was found hidden in the waistband of his pants.

The court was also told that this incident happened just 2 months after the defendants Dad had died. Given this occurred almost 3 years ago the defendant would of been only 19 at the time.

Judge McHugh, presiding over the case decided to strike out the charges after hearing the defendant had complete a restorative justice program for his crime.

Restorative Justice Program

If like me you are wondering what’s entailed in a restorative justice (RJ) program for cannabis then you can find examples here and here.

In one of the examples they take a man by the name of Tom, who had no previous convictions but was caught with €500 worth of cannabis, a weighing scales and admitted it was for sale and supply. The judge decides to give Tom a chance and sends him to the RJ program no doubt not before telling him he would get prison should he not participate in the program and get a positive report.

In Tom’s first meeting he was made take responsibility for harms caused to his Mother, sister and young niece by his offence but these harms were in relation to a drug raid by Gardaí to which they were all present. The people who are truly responsible for this are the policy makers who gave Gardaí these powers in the first place.

Tom admits during this meeting that he was consuming cannabis for 3 years before his arrest and he was selling it to cover the costs because he didn’t have a job. He also admitted to not having a good relationship with Gardaí and distrusted them.

In reality Tom did have a job and it seemed he was good at it too until the Gardaí interfered. Tom was providing a service to the community where 2 consensual individuals engaged in a mutually beneficial exchange. For many out there people like Tom are the providers of a medicine because our government have refused to put in place an effective pathway to access Cannabis for patients but as you can imagine this formed no part of Toms “re-education” with the RJ.

At the end of this meeting Tom agrees to participate in a reparation program involving a reparation panel chaired by a “trained volunteer” and attended by the RJ caseworker, a probation officer and Gardaí. (Keep in mind all paid for by tax payers.) All present at a reparation panel discuss the harm done by the offence and agree reparative actions to help repair the harm done. These actions are written into a ‘contract’ that is given to the Judge in advance of sentencing.

This was Tom’s contract

• attend a Substance Misuse Awareness group discussion, facilitated by a drug support worker;

• his Caseworker was to facilitate a meeting with a member of the Garda Drugs Unit to assist Tom in gaining insight into its work. This was also an opportunity for Tom to discuss and consider his relationship with the Gardaí;

• write a letter of apology to his mother and sister;

• write a letter to his niece which would include advice for the future; and,

• write a reflective piece highlighting the effects of drug use on communities.

Tom completed the list of tasks and even secured job interviews. On returning to the judge he struck out the charges because Tom has now been saved/re-educated by the justice system . Much like the justice system was being used to save us from homosexuality or the act of engaging in non-procreative sex with condoms.

We currently have a bill by TD Gino Kenny before the government to decriminalise the possession of Cannabis and an upcoming citizens assembly which is to discuss the wider decriminalisation of the drug user. I would hope, like our society chose the progressive path on condoms and same sex relationships, we will also chose the progressive path here.

Criminalising a person for their drug use is wrong, as it’s criminalising them for being Human. As we move towards a change in a policy I hope the discussion includes how people like the defendant in the case above and Tom can be reperated for their mistreatment under the misuse of drugs act 1977.