The first meeting of Ireland’s Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs was held in Dublin recently, with participants hearing from a range of speakers including Dublin GAA player Philly McMahon. McMahon spoke about the impact of his brother’s heroin addiction and criticized Ireland’s current approach to drug use, saying that Irish society needs to move away from stigmatizing and villainizing drug users. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar also addressed the assembly, saying that Ireland needs to find better ways to tackle illegal drug use, citing Portugal’s decriminalization model as an example. The assembly is expected to make recommendations on drug policy to the Irish government next year.
