A leading medical expert has urged on the Irish government to decriminalise drug use.
Dr Garrett McGovren is an addiction specialist and believes that Ireland should follow the example set by Portugal.
The Portuguese government decriminalised drug use in the country nearly two decades ago.
Portugal now has the lowest number of fatal overdoses in Europe.
Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Dr McGovren called for Ireland to change its current approach to anyone caught by police in possession of drugs.
"You know, we've been doing the same old thing for many many years, and it doesn't seem to be very effective, it's costing an awful lot of money," he said.
"I think we need a new approach and the Portuguese model in terms of decriminalising drugs for personal use doesn't result in an increase in drug use, and it actually captures the people who need treatment."
A public consultation on the possession of illegal drugs for personal use was launched in Ireland this week.
The consultation is seeking the views of the public on the effectiveness of the current laws around drugs and what alternatives should be considered.
Ireland currently ranks highly among EU nations for drug-related deaths.
Dr McGovren has previously called for a two-pronged approach to the issue.
Firstly, he believes the government should decriminalise the possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use and that the authorities need to start treating drug use as a health issue rather than a crime.
Secondly, he wants to introduce supervised injecting rooms for heroin users.
The idea is to create a safe place to take drugs, reducing the presence of heroin users injecting drugs in the streets.
The public consultation continues.
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