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People caught with a small amount of cannabis for personal use as of today can now avoid a criminal conviction if they admit the crime and accept an adult’s warning.
The gardaí announced today that the crime is one of the four that have been approved for the adult reprimand scheme by the Director of the Public Ministry.
This is the first time that a drug-related crime can be considered not a criminal offense.
The adult warning plan allows a person who has made a mistake to avoid a criminal conviction.
It can be used for minor offenses, such as being drunk and disturbing public order, theft, damage or tampering with stolen property worth less than € 1,000 or failure to comply with Garda instructions in certain circumstances.
Today, the scheme was expanded to include four more crimes; simple possession of cannabis for personal use, transfer that can cause fear, informal trade such as selling hats or scarves at a party and breaking a barrier at an event.
People arrested for these crimes can now have the option of admitting the crime and accepting an adult warning.
It means that the act will not be recorded as a crime and will not have any detrimental effect on background checks or Garda visa applications.
The plan is designed to give first-time minor offenders a chance to avoid damaging their reputation or future prospects.
The scheme is administered under the direction of a Garda Superintendent and can only be used once, but it saves Gardaí the time, effort, and cost of proving a crime and bringing someone to court.
The announcement marks the first time that a drug offense has been effectively decriminalized in the sense that a minor cannabis possession case can be dealt with outside the criminal justice system.
An adult warning cannot be used in the case of any other illegal drug.
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