Mr. Ben Ryan:

It is a difficult question to answer. Obviously, the people who manufacture and distribute illegal drugs are criminal gangs, and it is an illegal activity. If the Deputy is talking about drugs such as heroin and cocaine, as Dr. Keenan has said, most of the heroin production in the world comes from Afghanistan when the Taliban was facilitating it and then after it stepped down. If the suggestion is that the State take over the production of drugs in some form of legalisation, we would have to engage with the countries and entities that are in regions where those drugs can be produced. These are plants, essentially, that do not grow everywhere. As regards opium production and coca leaves, we would have to engage with the Taliban and narcoterrorists in Colombia, so it is not as simple as saying the State should just take over production. That is just not practical, if that is the suggestion.