One of the country's best-known anti-drugs campaigners has called for the resignation of the chairman of the Road Safety Authority Gay Byrne over remarks he made at the weekend about the legalisation of drugs.
Mr Byrne told the RTÉ Radio 1 Conversations with Eamon Dunphyprogramme that he was coming round to the view that illegal drugs should be legalised because attempts to deal with the problem through law enforcement had "demonstrably failed".
Mr Byrne said he had been speaking in a personal capacity, but the international president of the Europe Against Drugs Network (Euraid), Gráinne Kenny, said she was "appalled" by his comments.
Ms Kenny is also the chair of the EU-wide Stupified Driving Committee, which is looking into the links between driving and both alcohol and drugs.
She said Mr Byrne's views directly impacted on his role as the chairman of the Road Safety Authority.
"If he is to be in charge of road safety, he should be educated on drug use as well as alcohol use. If you are a cannabis smoker, your driving is affected and that is a scientific fact," she said.
Mr Byrne told Eamon Dunphy that he believed trying to control the drugs problem is a "hopeless task" and that fresh thinking was needed on the issue. "It's a major chasm for me that we should seriously consider legalising drugs. It seems to me that, in no other area of human endeavour, have you tried to cure a problem for 40 years by doing exactly the same thing and finding out that it doesn't work," he said.
His views were supported by homeless campaigner Fr Peter McVerry, who provides a drug detoxification house through his Welcome Home charity.
"I'm all in favour of legalising drugs. However, I realise it is not a political option at the moment," he said.
