Emergency legislation on drugs passed in Dáil

The Dáíl has passed emergency legislation to reinstate the ban on drugs including ecstasy and crystal meth.

The Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill will now go to the Seanad tomorrow, so that the drugs can be made illegal again from Thursday.

The emergency bill was needed after the Court of Appeal struck down the previous law which allowed the drugs to be restricted.

Health minister Leo Varadkar says in future, the Oireachtas will have to approve new restrictions whenever the government wants to ban individual drugs.