Agreements and Treaties. Concerns over extradition provisions in the 1988 UN Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances delayed ratification in 1995, but Irish officials hope ratification will occur during the first half of 1996. Ireland is not a significant cultivation site for illicit drugs. However, authorities have reported annual seizure rates of several hundred cannabis plants over the past few years. Several major cannabis seizures occurred in 1995.
Cannabis transits Ireland en route to continental Europe and the United Kingdom.
Most cannabis available in the Irish market originates in North Africa, primarily Morocco, and is transported to Ireland by sea. Traffickers transport heroin and ecstasy to Ireland via air and passenger ferry, usually in quantities of approximately 100 grams. In December 1995, the Education Minister announced a three-year pilot drug abuse prevention program targeting primary students, their parents and disadvantaged pupils. Treatment facilities, particularly spaces for methadone maintenance programs, remain inadequate. Department of Health officials confirm that between 800 and 1,000 heroin addicts are on waiting lists for methadone maintenance.