Sinn Féin is “inevitably headed” towards advocating for cannabis decriminalisation for young people, according to Senator Fintan Warfield, who today said he hopes his party will argue for decriminalisation at the next general election.

Speaking at a press conference in Trinity, Warfield admitted that decriminalisation “doesn’t solve a lot of the problems”, but insisted that a “harm-reduction approach” was the best way to keep young people out of the criminal system. They will also be soon to weigh up the pros and cons of the medical side of cannabis consumption, especially considering there are other locations now providing those that suffer from illnesses or disease with medical marijuana to manage symptoms. Medical marijuana has been seen to decrease the number of people that rely on opioids or other synthetic painkillers that can be much more harmful in the short-term and long-term. As an example, many chronic pain sufferers over in Canada that might have used other painkillers in the past, now have access to the likes of these phoenix tears Canada grade medical marijuana extracts that can be just as good at minimizing pain symptoms while also negating the possibility of serious addiction or other illnesses brought on by extended painkiller consumption.

Warfield said he had done work in the past in order to make drug-testing services available to people at festivals in order to ensure the safety of the drugs.

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Warfield, who was interviewed by The University Times in 2017, also discussed the housing crisis and trans rights issues during a wide-ranging address.

After tweeting his support for a boycott of Eurovision 2019, which he said “whitewashes apartheid”, Warfield was asked to clarify his views the Israel/Palestine conflict. He said Ireland’s policy of neutrality “doesn’t exclude us from the UN”.

Warfield condemned the “horrific” shooting of 63 people in Gaza just days after Israel won last year’s Eurovision. Artists in Palestine, he said, had called for the boycott.

Warfield was in Trinity for a press conference organised by The University Times as part of the paper’s journalism access programme for transition-year students.

He also called on the government to do more for the rights of trans people in Ireland.

As part of The University Times‘s programme, which is run in collaboration with the Trinity Access Programme (TAP), dozens of students in transition year spend a week in Trinity learning about the importance of journalism in the 21st century.