Leo Varadkar has said he’s never experimented with recreational drugs while a national politician.
The Taoiseach was speaking in the context of a report from an all-party Oireachtas committee that has suggested softening the laws on drugs and decriminalising certain categories, such as cannabis, in limited circumstances. Mr Varadkar did not say he was against such proposals and said he would like to see the issue discussed at a citizens’ assembly.
The Taoiseach was also asked by the Irish Mirror if he had dabbled with drugs since he was elected to the Dáil. He responded: “No, I haven’t.”
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The Oireachtas justice committee recommended that “a policy of decriminalisation is pursued, in line with emerging international best-practice” on the possession of drugs for personal use. On the report, Mr Varadkar said: “I haven’t had a chance to read that report yet, I know there was a similar report done by the committee a few years ago, when I think it was David Stanton (a Fine Gael TD) was chairing it at that time.
“What we intend to do as a government is to establish a Citizens Assembly on drugs policy. There's two that are kind of finishing up at the moment.
“There's the one on the reform of local government in Dublin and one on biodiversity so we're keen to see those reports and respond to them but if you like the kind of citizens assembly in the pipeline is one on drugs policy and they’ll have a chance to consider it.”
The Taoiseach was then asked for his personal view and he added: “I haven’t formed a view on it and obviously don’t want to, kind of, prejudice what the Citizens Assembly might come up with but we have, in the past, seen Citizens Assemblies being used very effectively to deal with difficult issues.
“Often we've seen that they've demonstrated that the public are ahead of the politicians, and we saw that, I think, in fairness with marriage equality and also with the Eighth Amendment so it’ll be interesting to see what work and what type of references that they have.”
The Oireachtas justice committee report also recommended that the cultivation of illicit substances at a “modest, non-profit level” should be examined in light of possible decriminalisation.
The committee acknowledged the harms a criminal justice-led approach to drug use and misuse has, and recommended that a health-led approach is taken instead. The Taoiseach was recently criticised as being "out of touch".
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