Possession of a controlled drug is an offence under section 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977. Possession for sale or supply is a separate, far more serious offence under section 15, and section 15A covers supply where the drugs are worth €13,000 or more. In the debate on decriminalising possession for personal use, one argument has been that many section 3 cases are not really about personal use at all, because they come alongside supply charges. No published figure tests that. We looked at what the official statistics can tell us.
In short
- The CSO counts every crime incident under its most serious offence. Supply carries a far higher maximum penalty than possession, so any incident that also involves supply is counted as supply. The CSO's "possession for personal use" figure therefore counts incidents where no supply offence was recorded alongside.
- Those stand-alone possession incidents were 10,257 of 15,359 drug possession incidents in 2025: 66.8%. The share has been at least two-thirds every year since 2003.
- Between 2021 and 2025, stand-alone possession incidents fell 26%, but Garda charges under section 3 rose 25%, from 6,618 to 8,287. The published figures cannot say why.
- The figure that would settle it, how many section 3 charges come from supply cases, has been asked for in the Dáil. It was referred to the Courts Service, and the answer has not been published.
How the CSO separates possession from supply
The CSO's crime statistics follow a primary offence rule: when one episode involves two or more offences, only the primary offence is counted, and the primary offence is the one with the greater possible penalty. Possession for sale or supply can carry life imprisonment on indictment; simple possession carries far less. So when a garda records possession and supply in the same incident, the CSO counts it once, as supply.
That makes the CSO category "possession of drugs for personal use" (code 1022) a count of incidents where possession was the most serious offence recorded. Incidents where possession came with a supply offence sit in "possession of drugs for sale or supply" (code 1021). The CSO's guide to how crime is counted adds that the other offences in an incident are still recorded and kept together on PULSE; they are just not counted in the published totals.
The long view: possession without supply, 2003 to 2025
| Year | Personal use (1022) | Sale or supply (1021) | Personal use share* |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 6,506 | 2,308 | 73.8% |
| 2008 | 18,076 | 4,263 | 80.9% |
| 2013 | 11,160 | 3,239 | 77.5% |
| 2018 | 13,383 | 4,134 | 76.4% |
| 2019 | 15,594 | 4,780 | 76.5% |
| 2020 | 15,759 | 6,004 | 72.4% |
| 2021 | 13,856 | 5,046 | 73.3% |
| 2022 | 12,145 | 4,327 | 73.7% |
| 2023 | 11,487 | 5,011 | 69.6% |
| 2024 | 10,708 | 4,524 | 70.3% |
| 2025 | 10,257 | 5,102 | 66.8% |
* Our calculation: personal use ÷ (personal use + sale or supply). Source: CSO table CJA01, recorded crime incidents, State, downloaded 19 October 2026. Every year from 2003 is in the CSV. The CSO revises recent years as investigations conclude, so figures can differ slightly from those first published.
From 2003 to 2022 the share was between 72% and 81% every year. Since 2023 it has drifted down, because supply incidents rose while personal-use incidents kept falling. Even so, in 2025 two in three possession incidents had no supply offence recorded alongside.
The puzzle: fewer cases, more charges
In March 2026 the Garda authorities gave the Dáil the number of charges citing possession contrary to section 3 for each of the last five years. Set beside the CSO's stand-alone possession incidents, the two move in opposite directions.
| Year | Section 3 charges | Stand-alone possession incidents (1022) | Charges per 100 incidents* |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 6,618 | 13,856 | 48 |
| 2022 | 6,359 | 12,145 | 52 |
| 2023 | 7,693 | 11,487 | 67 |
| 2024 | 7,404 | 10,708 | 69 |
| 2025 | 8,287 | 10,257 | 81 |
* Our calculation. Charges are counts of charges, not people or incidents, so this is a ratio of two different measures, not a charge rate.
Three explanations fit these numbers, and the published data cannot tell them apart:
- More section 3 charges added to supply cases. If gardaí now lay a possession charge alongside supply charges more often, section 3 charges would rise without any rise in stand-alone possession. That would support the view that many section 3 cases are linked to supply. Supply incidents rose 13% between 2024 and 2025 (our calculation from the same CSO table).
- Fewer cautions in stand-alone cases. For all drug offences, the share of suspected offenders dealt with by an adult caution fell from 11% in 2021 to 8% in 2024, while the share charged or summonsed rose from 81% to 87% (CSO table RCD10). Fewer cautions means more charges from the same number of incidents.
- Counting differences. One incident can produce more than one section 3 charge (for example, two different drugs), and charges are counted when laid, not when the incident was recorded.
What is published, and what is not
| Figure | Published? | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Recorded possession incidents, personal use vs sale or supply | Yes, every quarter | CSO recorded crime |
| Section 3 charges per year, 2021 to 2025 | Yes, once | Dáil answer 52 [20845/26], 19 March 2026 |
| Arrests under section 3 | No: custody logs do not record a specific offence | Same answer |
| Section 3 convictions | No: the Department does not hold court data | Same answer |
| People charged with section 3 together with section 15 or 15A, and with section 3 alone, 2019 to 2025 | Asked for, not published: referred to the Courts Service, which replies to the TD directly | Dáil answers 2172 and 2173 [55175/26, 55176/26], 28 July 2026 |
| Drug offences in court, possession vs supply | No: the Courts Service reports drug offences as one category | Courts Service annual report (HRB summary) |
The query that would settle it
Because PULSE records every offence in an incident and keeps them together, An Garda Síochána, or the CSO, which works from the PULSE data, should be able to publish two numbers each year:
- how many incidents counted as possession for sale or supply also record a section 3 offence; and
- how many section 3 charges come from those incidents, against how many come from stand-alone possession incidents.
The court-side equivalent is the split already asked for in the Dáil: defendants charged with section 3 and section 15 or 15A together, against section 3 alone.
Limits
- The CSO counts incidents, not prosecutions or convictions. Some stand-alone incidents end in an adult caution or, since 1 September 2026, a health referral.
- The CSO's supply category covers both section 15 and section 15A; it does not separate them.
- The CSO does not break drug offences down by drug, so these figures cover all drugs, not only cannabis.
- One person can appear in more than one incident, so these are shares of incidents, not of people.
Common questions
What is the difference between section 3 and section 15A?
Section 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 makes it an offence to possess a controlled drug. Section 15 covers possession for sale or supply, and section 15A covers possession for sale or supply where the drugs are worth €13,000 or more, with a presumptive minimum sentence of 10 years.
Does the CSO count possession and supply in the same case twice?
No. Under the CSO's primary offence rule, an incident with more than one offence is counted once, under the offence with the greater possible penalty. An incident involving both possession and supply is counted as supply.
Do these figures cover cannabis only?
No. The CSO does not break drug offences down by drug, so the figures cover all controlled drugs.
Why are section 3 charges rising when possession incidents are falling?
The published data cannot say. It could be more possession charges added to supply cases, fewer cautions in stand-alone cases, or more than one charge per incident. A count of section 3 charges arising from supply incidents would answer it.
Method and data
Incident counts are from CSO table CJA01 (recorded crime incidents, State, annual), offence codes 1021 and 1022, downloaded 19 October 2026. Section 3 charges are from Dáil answer 52 [20845/26], 19 March 2026. Sanction shares are from CSO table RCD10. Every calculation is shown or marked *. Download the full series, 2003 to 2025: drug-possession-vs-supply-ireland-2003-2025.csv.
Spotted an error or have a newer figure? Email briancusack88@gmail.com and we will correct it and note the change here.
Sources
- CSO PxStat table CJA01, Recorded Crime Incidents (State, annual), offence codes 1021 and 1022, downloaded 19 Oct 2026: ws.cso.ie
- CSO, Crime Counting Rules, primary offence rule B.1: cso.ie
- CSO, Guide to how crime is counted and recorded (Recorded Crime Detection), 2021: cso.ie
- CSO PxStat table RCD10, Suspected offenders by offence group and sanction type, downloaded 19 Oct 2026: ws.cso.ie
- Dáil Éireann, written answer 52 [20845/26] to Gary Gannon TD, 19 Mar 2026, via HRB National Drugs Library: drugsandalcohol.ie
- Dáil Éireann, written answers 2172 and 2173 [55175/26, 55176/26] to Marie Sherlock TD, 28 Jul 2026, via HRB National Drugs Library: drugsandalcohol.ie
- HRB, “Courts Service annual report shows drug prosecutions fell in 2024”, 2026: hrb.ie
- Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 (revised), sections 3, 15 and 15A, Law Reform Commission: revisedacts.lawreform.ie
- TheJournal, Health Referral Scheme for drug possession takes effect, September 2026: thejournal.ie
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