DUBLIN, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Friday that the question as whether or not cannabis should be decriminalized in Ireland is currently under consideration.
He told local media RTE while attending a British-Irish Council meeting on the British island of Guernsey that an expert group related to the issue has been formed in the country and they are examining the systems in jurisdictions in which cannabis has been decriminalized for recreational use.
"We are conscious that Portugal has done it and has had some success in moving it from a criminal justice matter to a health and addiction issue and I am very conscious that cannabis has been decriminalized in every state on the west coast of the United States," he said.
"Colorado, most recently Canada and the sky hasn't (fallen) in, so it's something that's under consideration," he said.
Earlier this week, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau announced that Canada will legalize the consumption and cultivation of cannabis from next October. Portugal was the first European country to decriminalize person possession of drugs in 2001.
Last year a health committee under the Irish parliament recommended a harm reducing and rehabilitative approach to possession of small amounts of illegal drugs.
Following this recommendation, the Irish government announced the establishment of a working group to look into alternative approaches to the possession of drugs for personal use, according to RTE.