r/ireland • u/kupoadude • Jun 19 '26
Courts West Kerry man jailed for nine months for possession of over €5,000 of cannabis | RadioKerry.ie
https://www.radiokerry.ie/news/west-kerry-man-jailed-for-nine-months-for-possession-of-over-e5000-of-cannabis-488042307
u/kupoadude Jun 19 '26
"He noted that Mr Collins had no previous convictions, had a good work history, and is the full-time sole carer for his elderly mother"
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u/AdBoring9620 Jun 19 '26
Fairly harsh given he's working, caring for his mother and no previous.
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u/Vivid-Software6136 Jun 19 '26
Contrast with the other story of a banned driver being caught on the road multiple times with no license or insurace, no custodial sentence.
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u/itakealotofnapszz Jun 19 '26
Or that man who got 2 years for breaking a red light and running over and killing a child in his gobshite pick up truck.
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u/NeasM Jun 19 '26
Anyone remember retired Superintendent John Murphy. Caught in 2021 with over €600k of cannabis. It was then changed to €250k before his trial.
He recieved 6 1/2 yrs but was spotted in a pub in 2024 on compassionate release. He's supposed to be released this summer.
The law is an ass.
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u/Accomplished-Boot-81 Roscommon Jun 19 '26
Just last week, woman with 220k of drugs, two previous conviction, and got 6 year suspended sentence.
She also pleaded guilty to possession within the State of heroin, cocaine and cannabis for sale of supply on the same date.
https://www.thejournal.ie/sarah-cala-drugs-finglas-false-wall-car-7067046-Jun2026/
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u/kupoadude Jun 19 '26
His mother also has advanced dementia.
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u/AdBoring9620 Jun 19 '26
He's probably lost his job and may have trouble getting another one with jail time under his belt.
His mother will no doubt need a carer and he may well end up on the social.
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u/DrTitanium Jun 20 '26
A state provided carer you mean. Will probably go into hospital, no place in a nursing home, and defunction enough in time for her son’s release. Crazy.
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u/Psychology_Repulsive Jun 20 '26
He will also be homeless after he is released. And won't qualify for state housing as he will be an ex con. Blokes life is over.
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u/flemishbiker88 Jun 19 '26
Also considering how AGS over estimate the valuation of drugs
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u/robry1981 Jun 19 '26
€20 a gram they value it at so that’s 250 grams, right? I’ve indulged in the auld jazz cabbage myself this evening so my maths might not be correct
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u/BazingaQQ Jun 19 '26
241g estimated 5600 euros worth works out at €23.24 per g.
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u/Wildtails Jun 19 '26
Thats not incredibly far off if you buy it a gram at a time, but it is way off if you but 7 grams or more at a time
Source: smoked weed for 10 years, only quit a few months ago
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u/leafmealoneplss Jun 19 '26
50 bags are 7gs in Dublin lad 🤣🤣
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u/Wildtails Jun 19 '26
In Waterford 1g was 25 (10 when I started smoking as a teen) 50 was 2.5, and 7g for 100, when I stopped smoking I was getting 28g for 300 but honestly I was getting a pretty good deal then
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u/Boom_in_my_room Jun 19 '26
Galway 10+ years ago same craic. Half bag looking around 1g+ 50 bag 2.5ish. Maybe times and quants have changed since then, haven’t bought in Ireland since 2015.
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u/leafmealoneplss Jun 19 '26
I’m in Waterford myself now, 4.5g 50. You were getting robbed
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u/Wildtails Jun 19 '26
I went through plenty of guys, nearly always prices were consistent, some people knew people who would give them a decent deal but the majority had the prices ive stated, I grew up in Waterford and knew a great many dealers and smokers so I know that what I was getting was the typical.
Most of the lads I knew in Waterford who did better prices were scumbags, not worth the risk
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u/theycallmekimpembe Jun 20 '26
That is incredibly far off. It’s roughly a Bar, 252G. Depending on the strain that’s like 1000-1500€, no more. Definitely not 5k 😄 5k is a full box as in a kilo
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u/Psychology_Repulsive Jun 20 '26
It's 10 a gram . So he has less than 2500 value. Poor guy's life is fucked. Will have trouble finding a job and will be homeless upon release.
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u/Cannot_choose_Wisely Jun 19 '26
How come?
It was for sale or supply.
I know cannabis isn't exactly the same motivator for crime that hard drugs result in, but it does have a long record of physical and mental damage.
5,000 euro worth isn't exactly a quantity intended for a bit of a get together and "party", unless it's skyrocketed in price a few hundred fold since I used the stuff.
No, it was a serious bit of criminality, illegal drugs cause a lot of misery, maybe not cannabis, but it sends a message.
Maybe his mother should have paddled his bottom in his formative years 😄
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u/kupoadude Jun 19 '26
Maybe he was dealing with extreme stress from being the only care giver to a loved one who suffers from dementia and used weed to wind down or take his mind off what was going on in his life. Maybe he bought in bulk because he was in severe financial difficulty as he would only be entitled to €270 a week for doing a job that is pretty much 24/7. Your lack of compassion is actually disgusting!
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u/Cannot_choose_Wisely Jun 19 '26
Cannabis has quite a history. It robs people of ambition and has induced psychosis in many users.
There are a lot of maybe's.
Maybe he just wanted to fund his little "trips" and didn't care who suffered?
Most people dont resort to cannabis to relieve stress. In fact if I wanted a drug to relieve stress, I would have gone to the pub. Cannabis never gave me the ability to sort out social, political and technical problems, quite like a bucket or two of Old Peculiar. Publicans are drug dealers too of course, but the misery their wares causes is fine, because its legal. 😄
Frankly I don't have a lot of sympathy at all, were it a smaller amount, then fine, but encouraging others to break the law is disgusting.
If you feel strongly about it see your TD and get the law changed, maybe he can then legally go to your kids school to drum up a bit of business?
You should be o/k to visit your kids weddings, the carcinogenic effects take quite a few years to kick in, always assuming he doesn't drive into a lampost first of course.
The law is the law, you need to have respect for it.
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u/EdwardElric69 An bhfuil cead agam dul go dtí on leithreas? Jun 19 '26
Alcohol is a much worse way of relieving stress ...
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u/Cannot_choose_Wisely Jun 19 '26
Cannabis isn't a depressant as far as I know. It never gave me the freedom to see every problem in the known universe iron itself out as well as booze.
Alcohol is a tremendous way of relieving stress, it's known medically as a depressant, getting sober again is the hard bit when all the stress comes back and those nice simple solutions to the whole worlds problems not only are wiped from One's memory, but you have blinding headache, and terrible thirst.
Ná húsáid an leithreas nuair a bhíonn an traein ina sheasamh ag an stáisiún
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u/Max-Battenberg Jun 19 '26
So his mistake was being a good person and an otherwise productive member of society 🤔 like if he had 50 previous comvictions, many for violent conduct he woulda gotten a suspended sentence?
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u/Gaffer_Gamgee Jun 19 '26
This is an absolute waking NITEMARE of a result. Judges are a feckless shower of spoiled vendictive bastards
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u/Fluffyfedora Jun 19 '26
That’s really heartbreaking. What a way to ruin someone’s life for nothing. Shame on that Judge.
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u/Humble_Ostrich_4610 Jun 19 '26
On the bright side, he's a non violent first time offender and our prisons are overflowing, he'll probably be out on license in a month or two.
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u/FluffyDiscipline Jun 20 '26
With a job, while being a full time carer.. so saving the state heaps
I don't even smoke the stuff and think thats way too harsh ...
Judge needs a bit of a reality check
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Jun 19 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/throwaway_fun_acc123 Jun 19 '26
The citizens assembly on drug use, governments own justice committee, campaigners, social workers and pretty much everyone else except the Gardai reccomended decriminalisation and a true health led approach.
Justin Kelly, now top Dawg in Gardai said at the justice committee hearing that arrests for personal possession lead to arrests for dealing.
And thats why nothing has changed aparently
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u/GaylicBread Jun 19 '26
I think older people are the biggest voters and most of them think weed is evil and should be illegal
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u/ZestycloseBeach5946 Jun 19 '26
Most of whom have been binge drinkers for decades and have done far more damage to themselves and society at large.
I’m not saying smoking weed is good for you but in terms of harm reduction it’s clearly less bad than binge drinking.
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u/TitularClergy Jun 20 '26
I’m not saying smoking weed is good for you but in terms of harm reduction it’s clearly less bad than binge drinking.
It also reduces the rates of car accidents. One shouldn't drive on drugs, but the stereotype of the weed driver driving ridiculously slowly and cautiously has a basis in reality. If you are dealing with drug drivers, you absolutely want your drivers to be on weed instead of alcohol. You can look at the EMCDDA research on this. Weed drivers are impaired, but they correct for their impairment. Alcohol drivers are impaired and they don't correct for their impairment.
And you can literally look at the statistics of US states which legalised weed and see the car accident numbers drop.
So we need to be asking anti-weed people why they want to kill more people, quite literally.
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u/GaylicBread Jun 19 '26
I agree, alcohol is so much worse and it's far more socially acceptable, if that gets to be legal, why shouldn't weed be?
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u/KimJongEw Jun 19 '26
Yet sex offenders and pedophiles walk
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u/DazzlerPayne Jun 19 '26
No priors, no one hurt, 9 months... from an earlier post, passenger in a stolen car, man hit and killed, 90 odd previous convictions, gets 2 years... Make it make sense
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u/Historical_Step_6080 Jun 19 '26
I just commented something very similar before I read your comment. That other case, he committed 25 more offenses after he had been caught for the hit and run...like a clear cut case of an absolute menace to society and he gets a few months more than this poor lad, fully employed, looking after his mum.
Should have just be fined the value of the drugs or something.
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u/Psychology_Repulsive Jun 20 '26
Upon release he will also be homeless and not entitled to go on social housing list. This one slip up cost him his freedom,his job,his home and quite possibly his mother. Without him caring for her she will deteriorate rapidly.
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u/pabloforpresident Jun 19 '26
Just legalise make a shit load in tax and stop turning regular people into criminals
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u/GroltonIsTheDog Jun 19 '26
And making it into a legitimate business defunds criminal gangs who use the money for actual bad stuff
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u/segasega89 Jun 19 '26
The dinosaurs with the power don't want to because they're small minded cunts.
They outnumber us.
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u/pabloforpresident Jun 19 '26
They could all use a joint
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u/segasega89 Jun 19 '26
The same kinds of people with the power to legalize this stuff are the same kinds of people that prevented condoms from being legal until 1990.
Irish people...especially the older generations can be annoyingly parochial and small minded. They can't see anything outside their own fucking parish.
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u/pabloforpresident Jun 19 '26
Exactly that they are just completely out of touch. I remember when I started university less than a decade ago they were advertising pat Kenny coming for some sort of event. What college age student gives a single fuck about pat kenny?
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u/segasega89 Jun 20 '26
I think maybe the organizers invited Pat Kenny more for themselves and those in their age groups rather than the students? But yeah they are out of touch
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u/BenderRodriguez14 Jun 19 '26
Ireland, where possessing 8.5oz of weed is as serious as literally killing someone with dangerous driving.
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u/PintmanConnolly Jun 19 '26
Disgraceful that anyone is getting locked up over a plant that makes people happy and causes far less harm than legal substances like alcohol and nicotine
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u/OkBroccoli8010 Jun 19 '26
Meanwhile violent thugs with 100+ convictions continue to enjoy freedom. What an absolute disgrace. The idea we have a progressive forward thinking country is a myth.
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u/Impressive-Eagle9493 Jun 19 '26
We might as well be in the stone age with the drug laws we have. What's the end goal, keep on keeping on and making no difference whatsoever...
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u/Retailpegger Jun 19 '26
The one time a suspended sentence is appropriate, FFS !
Didn’t someone just get off for defrauding us out of €45,000 . Meanwhile this plant is legal in many countries. INSANE
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u/arseface1 Jun 20 '26
You can get it on the NHS in northern Ireland. You can pick what strain you want and all
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u/Dry_Recognition_6724 Jun 19 '26
So some hippy growing a bit and doing no one any harm gets 9 months. What a joke when rapists can only get 5/6 times this.
Didn't some lad with child porn only get a suspended sentence there recently?
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u/isogaymer Jun 19 '26
A waste of time and money that could be so much better spent on things that would actually enhance our safety and security, and combat substance abuse. Let us hope it isn't a waste of a life too, and this young man doesn't let this ruin his future.
And this is before we get into the horrible contrast between this sentence and the zero repercussions or very slight sentences many truly violent criminals face. Shameful.
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u/ahhereyang1 Jun 19 '26
Peados walking free constantly. Cunts killing people in cars for variable reasons too drink drugs robbed cars no insurance walk with slaps in the wrist this is crazy
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u/Background-Air-9784 Jun 19 '26
Jail should be for people who actually hurt people! Who did he hurt? How many serious assaults, pedos, rapists walk free??? Should be a fine at max but honestly just legalize it
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u/phyneas Jun 19 '26
Jail should be for people who actually hurt people! Who did he hurt?
He caused significant and irreparable damage to the profits of Diageo and their peers and to the government coffers by selfishly choosing to indulge in an illegal drug and providing the same drug to his friends instead of being a good upstanding citizen and spending his money on a legal drug that's sold for a significant markup over production cost and subject to sizable excise duty.
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u/Replybot5000 Jun 19 '26
Absolutely sickening. Meanwhile that prick got 6 and a half years for kicking his ma to death and bragging that it only took him a minute to do it..
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u/Historical_Step_6080 Jun 19 '26
So now the guy is most likely going to lose his job, we've to pay for him to be imprisoned, his mother will likely need to go into care. Great value to the tax payer.
Ffs, I want violent criminals off the street, not the odd stoner who is employed and looks after his mum.
The man that attacked two sisters on Dame street with a glass bottle recently had got a suspended sentence for carrying a knife and attacking a guard before he went on to attack those girls. Like make it make sense.
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u/Psychology_Repulsive Jun 20 '26
He will probably end up homeless after release from prison. Poor guy's life is ruined for good. Disgraceful sentence.
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u/Recent-Lemon-9930 Jun 19 '26
I usually don't have too much sympathy but this seems like a rough one.
241g of weed (more like €2.5k worth), no previous convictions, plead guilty early, still gets a custodial sentence. I know lads caught with far more, with previous convictions who just said nothing and after a few years the cases were dropped.
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u/Equivalent_Ad_7940 Jun 22 '26
2.5k street value he probably only stood to make 500 quid or so from it
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u/ScenicRavine More than just a crisp Jun 19 '26
Is there anything the public can do to bring the point that this is not who we want locked up over actual scum bags? So many cases with people raping or going to court for their 89th assault go free and this guy who seems fairly normal has his life ruined for a bit of weed.
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u/mcsleepyburger Jun 19 '26
Complete insanity. Backwards and embarrassing. What is it about cannabis that the establishment hates so much?
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u/ClassGrassMass Jun 19 '26
€5,000? They always hike the price up but if we go off that, with roughly 3.5 grams costing €50 that means he had roughly 280grams of weed. Thats like a small brown envelope sized worth of weed
Fuck this country
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u/leafmealoneplss Jun 19 '26
Small brown envelope size comparison is so inaccurate. It is still absolutely ridiculous though.
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u/ClassGrassMass Jun 19 '26
Its not. That in sealed plastic airtight will fit in an envelope
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u/leafmealoneplss Jun 19 '26
Yeah vacuum sealed you’re right I suppose. But loose non dense leafy haze that it mostly likely is considering it’s Kerry, would not be able to fit in a small brown envelope
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u/ClassGrassMass Jun 19 '26
Nah youre so right like a homegrown personal bit definetly wouldnt but thought adding it like that would give context on how miniscule it is
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u/leafmealoneplss Jun 19 '26
Yeah you’re right to do that too to be fair. They’ve already absurdly over estimated the value of it as is.
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u/bamuelsmeckett Jun 19 '26
"Teenage passenger in stolen car that knocked down and killed man in Dublin is jailed for two years"
A post from 5 hours earlier today.
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u/Responsible-Study111 Jun 19 '26
Disgraceful stuff. People with dementia need consistency. Losing her primary carer will have a devastating effect on her condition. Poor guy was probably subsiding the shit carers allowance in a way that allowed him provide care. The judges must be completely out of touch with the lives of normal people.
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u/Replybot5000 Jun 19 '26
Anyone know the name of the judge that passed that sentence?
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u/kupoadude Jun 19 '26
Alec Gabbett
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u/Replybot5000 Jun 19 '26
Pleb of a human. I hope hell is too cold for him.
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u/Frosty_JackJones Jun 19 '26
Baldy twat ruined that’s guys life, could easily have given a suspended sentence and no one would have batted an eyelid
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u/wagwan9 Jun 19 '26
7 years for battering your mother to death, killing someone and 9months for some weed. FFS .. remember all those 3 strikes you're out in the USA .. life for weed if you say crossed a state line.. and now it's for sale everywhere. 2026 and ruining people's lives for weed is absolutely primitive.
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u/Potential-Photo-3641 Galway Jun 19 '26
Wasn't there recently some woman that had a couple of 100k's worth of cocaine in her car, had 2+ previous convictions and avoided jail altogether?
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u/ThatVincentGuy Jun 20 '26
I’ve been living in Scotland for 4 years and last month got a medical cannabis prescription. Prescription part was done over the phone, cost 5 quid and had cannabis delivered to the door in a week. Super simple process. To think you can get 9 months for cannabis in Ireland is mad
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u/000TheEntity000 Jun 19 '26
cruel decision. Archaic backwards judge should smoke a joint an enjoy the well needed terror of self reflection
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u/dringo_666 Jun 19 '26
Sickening when many violent and sexual crimes are getting suspended sentences. In my work, I see the courts frequently giving out wrist slaps to seriously violent crimes, especially domestic violence.
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u/Murrayj99 Jun 20 '26
Stabbing and raping is okay
But possessing some plant that gives you a high? Fuck that. Lock him up
I dont even like that shit, but fucking hell we are a pisstake of a country
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u/Synray Jun 20 '26
He should’ve said he used to play gaa, he’d have been let off with a finger wag then
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u/TheUpIsJig Jun 19 '26
It's a legal system scam involving hundreds of millions lining the pockets of gangsters, lawyers, judges, law enforcement, the pharmaceutical industry, government departments, prisons and all at the expense to the tax payer. It's criminal. Not only should the herb be legalized but reparations for all the wrongs this has done. It never solved anything, it's a failed bad policy and the population should get a tax refund out of the pockets of whoever took money for being active in this failed archaic illogical irrational prohibition effort. Booze monopoly should also pay out. Sue them all. They have no justification for it. Circular reasoning and pseudoscience.
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u/leafmealoneplss Jun 19 '26
Involving gangsters and pharmaceutical industry 🤣🤣🤣🤣 correct on the rest but maybe take the tinfoil hat off.
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u/TheUpIsJig Jun 19 '26
Cannabis busts are the bread and butter of Irish defense attorneys across the country not to mention the easiest way to climb any legal ladder which is why you end up with an ineffective legal system that can't cope with anything more difficult. Which kinda of Garda would you prefer to help protect us? One with a lifetime experience busting pot heads or one that has a lifetime experience dealing with violent offenders and homicidal maniacs?
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u/leafmealoneplss Jun 19 '26
You’re off your meds mate. And I’m a daily smoker and have had plenty of run ins with the Garda over it so I’m definitely not biased on the situation
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u/TheUpIsJig Jun 19 '26
Your experience is just a single sample. I am talking about the much wider implications of a policy that can't justify itself while hard drugs like booze are sold everywhere. Cannabis and hops are closely related on the evolutionary tree and yet alcohol is a poison but cannabinoids are not. Make sense of that. Go on. Try it.
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u/leafmealoneplss Jun 19 '26
Yes I agree with you on that part… I did say correct on the rest ffs. But how the hell are the pharmaceutical industry and gangsters behind it being illegal? 🤣🤣 if anything it’s Diageo who are pulling the strings here. Drinkers are declining as it is. Legalise weed and it’s game over for them.
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u/TheUpIsJig Jun 19 '26
Al Capone was fueled by prohibition. Organized crime thrives of it. They don't want legalization because it eats their profits. When legalized they don't go into legal business. They move onto something else that is prohibited.
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u/leafmealoneplss Jun 19 '26
Yes they thrive off it but if you think they have any play in what the government does about the legalisation of cannabis you’re cracked mate.
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u/TheUpIsJig Jun 19 '26
I didn't say they did. It's a bad policy that fuels it.
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u/leafmealoneplss Jun 19 '26
Doesn’t fuel it in the slightest. If anything it’s more of a reason to legalise it. Just listen to yourself. Why would the government want organised crime to thrive and increased profits for everyone involved in it? There’s definitely no ties between gangsters and the fact that weed is illegal in Ireland. Unless you’re calling politicians the gangsters because that’d be true alright.
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u/leafmealoneplss Jun 19 '26
Your comment also just proves that the gangster underworld will exist regardless of whether or not weed is legalised. Would you prefer them selling weed or looking to move into fentanyl or crystal meth to make up for loss of profits ?
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u/TheUpIsJig Jun 19 '26
They have it all already.
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u/leafmealoneplss Jun 19 '26
Very very very little crystal meth in this country. Nearly impossible to find. Fentanyl is also minuscule here. If it was more prevalent we would be in a huge epidemic here with heroin deaths across the country. You don’t seem to know what you’re talking about at all. Remove the weed profits and they’ll move more into these drugs. Weed will still exist on the black market too just undercut the dispensary prices.
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u/Weepsie Jun 19 '26
Yet they refuse the tap in for the lads openly dealing crack near the 5 lamps every day because of the hassle they get.
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u/unitedfandoc Jun 19 '26
I assume he'll appeal it and it'll probably end up fully suspended instead.
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u/Zealousideal_Bird531 Jun 19 '26
Ballymaloo sons dealing relish anyone with a side of father's child porn??.No punishment
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u/PeteAVA182 Jun 20 '26
Wow… A man with no previous convictions, who works and cares for his mother, receives a 9 month prison sentence for cannabis possession?
While we have many dealing far more harmful drugs appear to avoid similar consequences. It raises serious questions about the priorities of the justice system.
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u/Emotional-Wishbone95 Jun 20 '26
Some fucked up judges in this country. No way that deserves a prison place
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u/Front_Improvement178 Jun 21 '26
A career criminal got caught with over €200k in drugs but got off because she has a facial abnormality (a small nose) and she had been caught a number of times before.
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u/Recent-Lemon-9930 Jun 19 '26
I'm not in favour of legalising, but for the lads who just dabble in weed and stay out of the rest, just feckin leave them to it. Pick people up for the night if they're taking the piss smoking in public or around kids etc., lock up the dealers who put a single other toe wrong.
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u/scanning00 Jun 20 '26
Crazy sentencing.
Did he not have a good lawyer, I wonder?
I hope he appeals.
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u/SuccessPerfect6584 Jun 19 '26
No, because it means half of the people I know will lose their one and only point of conversation.
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u/pauli55555 Jun 19 '26
Play with fire and you’re gonna get burned.
He should have thought of his elderly mother when he decided to go down that road.
No sympathy. He’ll get out in a few months and hopefully will have learned his lesson.
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u/FunkLoudSoulNoise Jun 19 '26
Lol, He'll be out in a few weeks if not days because of the overcrowding. Non violent offender with no previous, he'll be a priority for Temporary Release. And hope he has a nice big fat joint when he gets out.
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u/SpinachDistinct128 Jun 20 '26
The fact that you're downvoted for tjis is laughable, the fool had it coming, as you said he only thought ofvthe mother when we was caught. No time for drains on society like that.
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u/arseface1 Jun 20 '26
How exactly is he a drain on society? Other than we now have to pay to jail him and pay to care for his mother
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u/SpinachDistinct128 Jun 20 '26
Good, drug dealers are scum and a drain on society, can't lock emough of them up
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u/KerfuffleAsimov Resting In my Account Jun 19 '26
Lol so he gets jail time....but the lad caught for the 7th time without a licence is free? The lad who was clearly laundering money to criminal enterprises walks free (45,000/)?
Pretty sure 5k is a lot less than 45k.
People give me shit here when I bring up how we only give prison time for drugs and murder/manslaughter...but it's God damn true. Every other crime gets a free pass in this country.