Minister calls for injection rooms for addicts

Heroin addicts should be allowed to legally inject their drug in a medically supervised setting, drugs minister Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has said.

The minister of state said he hoped to change the drug laws by the end of the year —marking a radical departure in government policy.

He accepted there was “some convincing to be done”, including within Government, but said he was “quite sure” both Health Minister Leo Varadkar and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald would be open to considering it.