Debate contribution: Sentencing: Drug Dealing

Debate contribution by Mr Colin McGrath on 21 April 2026.

MLA

Mr Colin McGrath

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

21 April 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Sentencing: Drug Dealing

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5498121

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker, and thank you to everybody who contributed to the debate. It is always good towards the end of a couple of days of debate that we get everybody agreeing and on the same page, more or less, on issues, especially when they are so relevant to people's lives. Over the weekend, I received an email from a constituent in Downpatrick who asked me this simple question: "When are politicians going to address the elephant in the room?". He said that the elephant was drug consumption, not potholes or housing, not the usual issues that dominate our feed and the emails that we get. He said that there was a sense that not enough was being done about drugs. I updated him by saying that often the work that is done to challenge those issues is not very visible. When people pass information to the police, and even to politicians to pass on to the police, it may not lead to an immediate arrest on their street, but it could be the intelligence that leads to major seizures elsewhere, so that local action does feed regional disruption. However, that reassurance goes only so far, because when people see drugs still flowing, intimidation continuing and dealers operating with impunity, they begin to lose faith. When those same dealers appear in court and walk away with what looks like a slap on the wrist, people just lose hope. Perception matters absolutely in those instances, and facts matter. The fact is that drug-related deaths have risen by 47% over the past decade. Thousands of people access substance misuse services every year, and almost 40% of people know that drug-related intimidation is happening in their community. That should stop us in our tracks. We must call out those who are driving that. It is about organised criminal gangs, many of them with paramilitary links, that exploit vulnerability, enforce debt through fear and profit from the destruction of lives. They are predators in our communities. Sentencing absolutely matters. If you profit from addiction, misery and death, your punishment must reflect that harm. That is why we support Jasmin's law and thank Pauline for her work in Jasmin's memory. It is essential that we, as legislators, deliver on that work. I will finish where I began, which was with an email from a man in Downpatrick asking me when we would address the elephant in the room. Let the message from today be that we are going to address the elephant in the room: to challenge those people in our community, to try to rid ourselves of those dealers and to make sure that, if they try to deal and pass those drugs on, they will feel the full force of the law as a result. Again, I am delighted that there is support from around the House on the issue. There is a slight difference on timescale, but we will not divide the House on that, because we are here today to be united in the message that we send out. We just want it to be done as quickly as possible; we know that it sometimes takes a little bit longer. I thank everyone for participating in the debate, supporting the motion and sending a unified message from the House. As Robbie said, eloquently as always, if you are dealing drugs in our community, it is only a matter of time: we will get you.

577 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:26 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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