Drugs Policy

We work in partnership with the key Government Departments and agencies and the community and voluntary sectors involved in the delivery of drug policy in order to progress implementation of the Strategy and to ensure an effective response to new and emerging drug trends.

We oversee, coordinate and report on the implementation of the current National Drugs Strategy 2009-2016, which aims to tackle the harm caused to individuals, families and communities by problem drug and alcohol use in Ireland through the five pillars of supply reduction, prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and research.

We oversee service provision and expenditure under the Drugs Initiative subhead and the work of Local and Regional Drugs Task Forces.

The Drugs Policy Unit supports the work of the

• Oversight Forum on Drugs,
• the National Coordinating Committee for Drug and Alcohol Task Forces and
• the secretariat of the National Advisory Committee on Drugs and Alcohol.

We also ensure a coordinated approach to Ireland’s international role and responsibilities in regard to illicit and illegal drugs. We participate in the:

• British Irish Council (BIC) Sectoral Group on Drugs and Alcohol meetings
• EU Horizontal Drugs Group (HDG)
• Council of Europe – Pompidou Group
• Commission on Narcotic Drugs
• European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction

Useful Links

• Drugs.ie (an independent website managed by the Ana Liffey Drug Project)
• National Documentation Centre on Drug Use (a repository of Irish drug-related research)