Peter McVerry stirs up the drugs debate

The Northside People West on 12 November published an interview with Peter McVerry SJ in which he urged a discussion of the legalisation of all drugs. “We have already legalised one drug, methadone, and there has not been a huge explosion of methadone use. In fact, the selling of methadone on the street has almost stopped. I feel we should at least explore doing the same with all other drugs. We have to realise that the present system is not working, despite the spending of millions of euro to stop the importing and selling of drugs.” The debate started at once, with a response in the same newspaper, and no doubt will continue.