<p>Tony Duffin, the CEO of the Ana Liffey Drug Project, said that stigma against drug users is “very serious”</p><p>and that there needs to be a health-led approach to responding to drug use, rather than a criminal approach.</p><br><p>In this episode Tony talks to us about his upbringing in London, his Irish roots in Wexford, his family life and his work over the last 30+ years in harm reduction. </p><br><p>Duffin said that Ireland needs to change its laws around drugs to help address this stigma.</p><p>“Stigma is a huge issue. It does prevent people from coming forward to access treatment and rehabilitation</p><p>and other supports.</p><p>Duffin said that “In countries like Portugal, where they implemented the model of decriminalisation, which is essentially a</p><p>very good diversion scheme, they have seen stigma towards people who use drugs disappear. It took about 10 years, 15 years of treating it as a health issue before people realise and</p><p>start to say, ‘they’re not criminals, they’re people who need a bit of help’.”</p><br><p>Duffin added that he believes there is an important distinction between “drug use” and “problematic drug</p><p>use”, </p><br><p>To follow Tony's work and the work of Anna Liffey Drugs Project click below links</p><p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/share/pSzw67HovzfHTVKv/?mibextid=LQQJ4d" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/share/pSzw67HovzfHTVKv/?mibextid=LQQJ4d</a></p><br><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/analiffey?igsh=cjk5dXh2ZHlkeDlk" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/analiffey?igsh=cjk5dXh2ZHlkeDlk</a></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
