War on drugs must be reassessed

THE fact that there are 15,000 heroin users, and probably more, in this country may not be startling news at this stage.

What may be startling, though, is the realisation that drugs are here to stay and that Ireland needs to re-think the manner in which the whole culture of their use and abuse is viewed.

Accepting that they are here to stay means that what was referred to as the "war" on drugs has been lost, at least insofar as the way in which it has been approached to date.