Embracing drugs is not the answer to winning the war on drugs, Newstalk Breakfast presenter Ciara Kelly has said.
She was recently in the Portuguese capital Lisbon and was taken aback by the number of people who appeared to be under the influence of drugs.
Portugal became the first country in the European Union to decriminalise drugs, including cocaine and heroin, in 2001 and is often compared to Ireland's approach.
A Citizens’ Assembly here has recommended the Government stop treating drug use as a problem for the criminal justice system and instead focus on healthcare solutions.
Ciara said she saw a lot of people who seemed 'off their head' on the streets of Lisbon.
"I was sitting there one of the afternoons and my kids were off wandering around the shops, so I was kind of just watching the world go by," she said.
"The amount of people I saw stumble by me - and I was in the city centre, I wasn't down some dingy back alley - I was in sort of the equivalent of Stephen's Green or Grafton Street.
"There was people stumbling around the streets, clearly off their head on drugs; it wasn't drink, you can tell the difference".
'Openly under the influence'
Ciara said she doesn't believe embracing drugs is the answer.
"There was so many of them, they were everywhere," she said.
"We hear awful lot, and I think this is probably true, that the war on drugs - and I'm using that phrase deliberately - has failed.
"But I'm not sure that embracing drugs is the answer to the war on drugs failing.
"I have not seen as many people openly under the influence of drugs stumbling around a city as I saw in Lisbon over the weekend".
Ciara said Lisbon is a wonderful place but the drug use is very evident.
"It was an unedifying sight and Lisbon is an amazing city, the Portuguese people are fantastic and I had a wonderful time," she said.
"But I definitely noticed the drug use."
Ciara added that she hoped her children "weren't noticing this" as much as she was.
