Are Ireland’s drug laws actually working?
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What is the purpose of Hot Press’s “Dealing With Drugs” podcast series?
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Coming up on this episode of the Mario Rosenstock Podcast
If somebody is caught with drugs, what benefit to society is giving them a criminal record? And to go back to Leo Varagka, if Leo had been unlucky enough during his student days to be busted, he would never have been a doctor. Uh he might have become Tea Shock, possibly, I doubt it. But he wouldn't have been allowed to go to America to to meet the president on on Paddy's Day. He couldn't have gone to Japan to meet the Japanese Prime Minister. But he got away with it. And that's why if you do, as a politician, say, I I I tried drugs, yup, whatever, and then you're not supporting decriminalisation, I I think there's actually a a gross hypocrisy there.
If there's one publication that's never been afraid to ask difficult questions about drugs, it's Hot Press. For decades, politicians sitting down for a hot press interview knew there was every chance that they'd be asked a question a lot of journalists wouldn't touch, namely, have you ever taken drugs? Sometimes the answers were honest, sometimes they were wonderfully evasive. But the conversations helped bring an often taboo issue into the public domain. At the same time, Hot Press has consistently argued. That treating drug use primarily as a criminal issue simply isn't working. And rather, Ireland should focus on policies centred on public health, education, and harm reduction. Now, these conversations continue in a hot press podcast called Dealing with Drugs.
It's presented by a deputy editor of Hot Press, Stuart Clark, who joins me as my special guest on this episode of the Mario Rosenstock Podcast. We chat about everything, uh, from why Portugal's model of decriminalisation is working and why Ireland's model of criminalisation isn't to organised crime, music culture, and why honesty may be the most important starting point for any meaningful debate about this hugely important issue.
And I think of a fourteen or fifteen year old kid who may have had a shag on E and it's the best thing they've ever had, you're going, Oh no, E will kill you, don't take drugs, they're gonna go, Granddad, don't be so stupid. If you're being honest about drugs can be okay, when you start talking about when they're not okay, people actually might believe you. I shouldn't get excited by this, but narco submarines. They build their own submarines that can travel halfway around the world. These cartels have more money in the coffers than most African countries. The synthesis that happens when you drink and take cocaine. Yes. It secretes a certain substance. And this proverbial ticking time bomb. Is actually real.
So once you've done that damage, you're sitting there going, Right, I'm doing me marathon, I I'm going to the gym four times a week, but I can still have a heart attack. Would you rather someone takes drugs down an alleyway littered with human feces who could overdose and die or be in a nice safe injecting room with a nurse and actually if you're in the mood that day to see some experts or get some help or get a medical checkup, you walk through a door, there's the doctor.
My full chat with my old buddy Stuart Clark of Hot Press coming up in just a couple of minutes' time. But first, this week I recorded what has turned out to be the most popular gift grub sketch in years, receiving over 2 million views in two days. Of course, it had to be about the World Cup. But something I thought of this week was that some of the English players have come from Irish backgrounds. Uh namely Harry Kane, uh Declan Rice, Jack Grealish was another member of the squad that had come into the squad before. And even in years gone by, Wayne Rooney, and even Jude Bellingham apparently carries an Irish passport, would you believe? And this led me to get into my best Bob Dylan impression and do this.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the purpose of Hot Press’s “Dealing With Drugs” podcast series?
0:00–8:10
2
How has Hot Press historically challenged politicians on drug use?
8:10–14:26
3
Why does Portugal’s de‑criminalisation model work and what results has it achieved?
14:26–21:45
4
What are the main failures of Ireland’s criminal‑based drug policy?
21:45–28:00
5
How do safe‑injection rooms and dissuasion committees reduce harm?
28:00–34:02
6
Why is political honesty about past drug use crucial for policy change?
34:02–40:42
7
What’s the difference between de‑criminalisation and full legalisation of drugs?
40:42–46:59
8
What steps can Ireland take now to move toward a health‑focused drug strategy?
46:59–57:31
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The Mario Rosenstock Podcast
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