Dr. Barry Cullen:

At one stage we had to do it with alcohol. At the foundation of the State, alcohol was completely out of control. It was being bought in shebeens. A lot of it was illegal and highly dangerous. Somehow in the early stages of the State, we managed to put a control system in place. Some people gave out about it but over time it worked and became regulated. I would start with the drug that is easiest, cannabis, because there are many international models in place. It would be a game-changer if we managed to get on top of that.

Currently all other countries in the European Union have moved in the direction of legalising cannabis. I expect that within approximately ten years there will be large industries dealing with the manufacture, distribution and sale of those drugs. There will be a huge demand among the industries that supply those drugs to extend their markets into Ireland and other places. At that stage, it may be impossible for the Irish Government to resist that because of European competition law. I believe the Government needs to get on top of that issue at an early stage and start with cannabis. It needs to get on top of it in such a way that it is not leaving it to the market. We have recently seen how the Government has been behind the curve regarding vapes, which I know very little about other than the private market has set the pace with the distribution of vapes in Ireland. It is only more recently that the Government has begun to try to put a regulatory framework around it but it may be too late for that.

We need to look at what is going on in other jurisdictions. I do not accept some of the criticism that has been made at the citizens' assembly for instance about the cannabis roll-out in Canada. Some misinformation was provided on that, particularly relating to drug-driving and the coexistence of illegal and legal markets. More recent research on cannabis in Canada has illustrated that this is not the case.