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It was only four years ago that a columnist in the Irish Independent wrote about how junkies were "vermin… feral worthless scumbags" who should be sterilized. He said that he would "cheer if every junkie died."That Ireland looks to be turning a corner on this kind of medieval view is testimony to two things: grassroots activism and a brave politician.When Anna Quigley started Citywide—a national network of community activists that helps drug users—in 1995, the initial feeling from people was that heroin addiction needed to be dealt with by tightening up law and order. Or by vigilantes attacking drug dealers. But things have changed."Over the years, people have seen the impact that criminalization has had on people who are addicted, who are often their own friends and family," Quigley told me. "They know why drug users commit crime, and that sending them through the courts for possession is counter to supporting and reintegrating them. They understand that a safer injecting room targeting chronic heroin users makes sense, and they are willing to look at decriminalization."For once, this is the community talking, the people who experience the downsides of drug addiction day-in and day-out, not some right-wing MP who has parachuted into a deprived neighborhood for five minutes to harp on about "the reality on our council estates."READ: How Dublin Celebrated the 48-Hour Legal Ecstasy Loophole
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Ó Ríordáin is brave, but he's not stupid. The reason he's run with the drug reform ticket is that, unlike most other politicians, he realizes that the Irish public is changing its attitude towards the drug problem. He has decided to take his lead from the community, rather than the media or his political rivals. He is fast running out of time to achieve all the drug policy changes he wants—there is an election in Ireland next year—but Ó Ríordáin is bringing things forward.So will the UK follow suit? The short answer is no. In 2013, an independent drug commission was set up by Green MP Caroline Lucas to look into the feasibility of setting up a safer injecting room in Brighton. Predictably, the right-wing press called it a "back door to legalization." But it hit the rocks because of legal problems.Mike Trace, a former UK deputy drugs tsar who headed the commission, told VICE: "The bottom line is the national government don't want to allow them. To get an officially recognized [safe injecting room] off the ground, you need your local police force to interpret a section of the Misuse of Drugs Act in a certain way. The Home Office have consistently maintained the view that [safe injecting rooms] are contrary to the act, and there are no plans to amend it."There is a huge body of evidence to show that safer injecting rooms not only reduce public injecting, but also the spread of fatal infections and overdoses. With the recent leaking of a report by the UN's office on drugs, which appeared to lend weight to decriminalization, Ireland's rapidly evolving drug policy position actually seems less surprising than the fingers-in-ears attitude of the UK Home Office.If only British politicians would do what Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has done—take the time to listen to the communities where drug addiction hits hardest, to witness first hand how our drug policies are causing unjust neglect, and punishment of our sickest citizens—they might realize that the willful stupidity of the status quo.Follow Max on Twitter.