Those convicted of major drug crimes should be given mandatory life sentences, the IMO has agreed.



Proposing the motion for the IMO to lobby the Minister for Justice to impose such sentences, Mayo GP Dr Oliver Whyte said that while misery was being imposed on our society, the “gang lords” were living in style in large houses and driving large cars.

“The gardaí don’t seem to be able to get them, but the Sunday papers seem to have no trouble getting them. So I think the message should go out to the people involved in supplying drugs that if they get caught… they will be locked up and we will throw away the key.”

Tralee GP Dr Bernard Ruane referenced New York City’s recent crime prevention measures, which had increased safety on the streets through a policy of “rounding-up drug dealers and putting them away for a long, long time”.

Expressing his concerns, however, Public Health Specialist Prof Joe Barry questioned if a mandatory life sentence would actually solve the problem. “The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) and taking away their assets tends to have a much greater impact,” he suggested, warning that imposing a mandatory life sentence might actually make things worse.

Dr Liam Lynch, a GP in Neilstown — which he said had a significant concentration of the victims of drug crime — wanted a comprehensive plan which would involve looking after the victims of drugs and the ‘industry of drugs’, as he put it, in a comprehensive fashion.

The motion was carried.