Submission to the Citizens' Assembly

31 May 2023

We called for the decriminalisation of the people who use drugs in their submission to the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs. We also called for the re-establishment of an independent Combat Poverty Agency – with real teeth and resources – to tackle the well-established links between poverty and drug harm.  Download here

Key Areas for Action

1. Re-establish a Combat Poverty Agency independent of government and empowered to hold government to account.
2. End criminalisation of people who use drugs, full stop.
3. Invest in an independent Community Development programme to support and underpin a central role for community voices in decision-making structures.
4. Open up a discussion about the impacts on our communities of the current legal framework under which drugs are controlled and whether it is fit for purpose.