Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his interest and knowledge on this matter. It goes without saying that the greatest drug of use and misuse in this State is alcohol and it is legal. It is associated with public order offences, child abuse and violence against women. It is associated with acute disease and chronic disease. It makes mental health worse. It is associated with suicide, public order offences and major road traffic accidents, yet we would never consider criminalising alcohol in Ireland because we know it would not work. People would not obey the law and alcohol would be driven into the hands of a criminal industry. People would be killed by impure alcohol, as was the case during prohibition periods in Ireland. That is something we all need to be honest about.

In my view, drug use and misuse by individuals should be seen primarily as a public health issue and not a criminal justice matter. That is very different from drug dealing, for example, and the production of illegal medicines and drugs. I certainly think that blaming, shaming and criminalising people is not an effective policy and has largely been rejected by the public, particularly younger people. If it was the case that that approach, the war on drugs and "just say no" was a successful policy, it would have been successful 40 years ago. It has not worked. We all need to admit that. Certainly that is what the citizens' assembly admitted in its report.

In terms of where we go from here, I am going to have a chance to meet with Paul Reid tomorrow. He is going to present the report to me. I am keen to hear his reflections, not just what is written down in the report. He is going to meet with the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, as well, who has responsibility for this area. We will publish the report formally. It is important that we have an opportunity for the Oireachtas to consider it. That is the usual process for a citizens' assembly. We will set out the details as to how that can be done, most likely tomorrow after the meeting with Paul Reid.

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