Newstalk reporters have this week been asking party leaders whether they have tried recreational drugs.
It comes amid the ongoing drug-related feud in Drogheda, with gardaí this week saying they believe the killing of a 17-year-old teenager was linked to the feud.
Drugs-related feuds have also claimed a number of lives in Dublin in recent years.
Speaking in Co Wicklow today, Fianna Fáil's Micheál Martin said: "I didn't have the same access to it as young people today have, but certainly I never have used recreational drugs."
FF leader Micheál Martin says he's never taken recreational drugs, admits he probably didn't have "the same access as young people today have". pic.twitter.com/NfIzlRYVBb
— Niall Colbert (@NiallColbert1) January 17, 2020
Asked in Drogheda today if he had used recreational drugs, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar answered: "I answered that question about 10 years ago, and I answered it truthfully."
In an interview with Hot Press magazine in 2010, Mr Varadkar - then an opposition TD - admitted he smoked cannabis in college.
Asked if he had ever experimented with ecstasy or other illegal drugs, he responded: "Not since I've held elected office, anyway. I’ve been extremely law-abiding since I’ve been elected to politics."
When I asked the Taoiseach if he ever used recreational drugs. Said he answered it ‘truthfully’ about 10 years ago.
Referring to this Hot Press interview from 2010, which says he smoked cannabis while a college student: https://t.co/VhM5bP3Tiw#GE2020 pic.twitter.com/CquoliCOxX— Andrew Lowth (@AndrewLowth1) January 17, 2020
Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald was yesterday asked whether she'd taken illegal drugs at any point in her life.
She responded: "No I haven't.
"There's no point in people being naive: the fact is that drugs are readily available... [and] for lots of people they form part of their social life. I don't mean just very young people either.
"I think this brutal killing should be pause for thought for lots of people: that if you are consuming these drugs as part of your lifestyle or your social life... just think again.
"Think as to where your money and your resources are going."
