Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We all welcome the long-awaited citizens' assembly on drugs that is to commence in April. Many of us accept that the war on drugs is well and truly lost and see that our approach should be one of harm reduction and be health-led. We understand that our approach must also be about dealing with the substantial negative impacts on families and communities. However, I want to ensure we deal with the issue of drug crime and specifically the issue of drug debt intimidation. We must engage with a sufficient number of stakeholders on that matter. I accept we need to look at international best practice. We might even need to look at international solutions. We then have to move from the assembly to its report to whatever work is done in the Oireachtas and then to action as quickly as possible.

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