Social activist Fr Peter McVerry spoke to Shane Coleman, who was standing in this morning on the Pat Kenny show.

Fr Peter has expressed a desire in recent days to start a debate on drug legalisation in Ireland. He outlined his view that all drugs should be made legal as the current way of dealing with drug users is not working. 

One issue he wishes to address is to take the supply of drugs out of the hands of criminals. The current methadone model of supply is a possible avenue of legalisation that Fr McVerry suggests. If the state takes an active role in providing and regulating the supply of drugs, he suggests it could reduce the 'black market' effect of the drugs trade.

He spoke about the widespread availability of drugs, as well as the need for increased supports and funding were we to consider the idea.

Fr McVerry's central point, however, was a desire to start a debate about how we hope to approach the problem of drugs in the future as the current system is not working.

You can listen to the entire interview below: