Summary of T1.1.1 characteristics of drug legislation and national guidelines
The classification of drugs and precursors in Ireland is made in accordance with the three United Nations conventions of 1961, 1971, and 1988. Irish legislation defines the importation, manufacture, trade in and possession, other than by prescription, of most psychoactive substances as criminal offences. The principal criminal legislative framework is laid out in the Misuse of Drugs Acts (MDAs) 1977–2017. Since the commencement of the Misuse of Drugs Act, 1977, the legislation has been amended via statutory instruments (SIs) and regulations to accommodate the transient nature of drug-related crime. Alternatives to punishment are available in Ireland; for example, via Community Service Orders, probation services, and Drug Treatment Court (DTC) programmes.

Summary of T1.1.2 variation of penalties by drug / quantity / addiction / recidivism
Fines and sentence lengths for drug-related crime vary by legislation, by Section that offenders are being prosecuted under, and also by whether it is a first, second or subsequent offence. It is considered unjust to specify the minimum term of 10 years to offenders with addictions; if the judge is satisfied that an addiction exists and all extenuating circumstances are considered, the sentence can either be listed for review once 50% has expired or been suspended. In order to reduce the likelihood of repeat offending, second or subsequent offences are penalised more severely than first offences.

Summary of T1.1.3 laws for controlling NPS
The main legislation that provides for the control of new psychoactive substances (NPS) is the Criminal Justice (Psychoactive Substances) Act 2010. This Act formed part of a multifaceted approach to reduce the availability of substances that were not controlled by the MDAs 1977–2007. Under the main provisions of the 2010 Act, it is an offence to sell, import or export substances; to sell equipment that enables cultivation; and to advertise drugs. In an effort to deal with the transient nature of NPS, the Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Act 2016 was enacted in July 2016. The Act includes the addition of NPS that have recently emerged on the Irish market. In order to ensure that drugs legislation captures emerging NPS, it is supplemented by secondary legislation in the form of declarations and designation orders, and regulation amendments annually. To date, the implementation of this legislation has not been evaluated.