Billionaire businessman Richard Branson's suggestion that we should look at de-criminalising drug use here has led to fears about encouraging drug use.

Branson made the comments in Dublin at the weekend where he was attending a think-in on drugs, organised by the Citywide Drugs Crisis Campaign.

He said Ireland would quickly get used to any such change, as we have got used to the idea of marriage equality.

Junior Minster with responsibility for the State's drugs strategy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin supports the idea of supervised injection centres for addicts, and spoke alongside Branson at the weekend.

He insists he has political support for such a programme and says work is being done to investigate how to legislate for such a change.

Ó Ríordáin told Today FM's Anton Savage show this morning that 70% of drugs convictions here are for the possession of drugs for personal use.

He argues this policy leads to criminalising addicts, when we should be targeting the pushers: "It should be a civil matter if you are found with a personal supply of drugs, for short-term use, as it is in Portugal."

Any suggestion that a drug addicts' criminal record could be wiped is off the table until the drugs strategy is redesigned he promised.

Portugese path

Portugal adopted a new policy on drug use in 2001, under which drug addiction was reclassified as a health issue rather than a criminal one.

The new rules effectively de-criminalised the holding of a 10 day supply of drugs for personal use.

Research from the Cato Institute in the US failed to show a drop in Portugese drug use rates after the policy was reduced, but HIV rates, deaths and sexually transmitted diseases all fell.

Sydney-style supervision

Sydney too allows drug addicts to use in a medically supervised environment.

Ó Ríordáin suggests that model might be the one to consider in the Irish context, though he admits legislating for the change would be difficult.

Under any such programme, a license would be given to a specific premises so that drugs could be used legally on that premises.

"This whole idea that drugs are bad, all drug-taking is bad, all people who take drugs are bad - that approach hasn't worked. The only places where you've seen a difference is where the problem has been approached differently."

"We have a choice, do we move people on and pretend it's not happening... or do we say that look a logical extension of the needle extension programme is say look, here's a safe place for you to do what you do."