Ireland has outlined plans to decriminalise the possession of small amounts of drugs, including heroin, cocaine and cannabis.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, the minister in charge of Ireland’s National Drugs Strategy, announced the radical move in the country’s approach to drug addiction in a speech on Monday.

“I am firmly of the view that there needs to be a cultural shift in how we regard substance misuse if we are to break this cycle and make a serious attempt to tackle drug and alcohol addiction,” said Mr Ó Ríordáin, adding that he wanted to remove the “stigma” from drug addiction by preventing addicts from ending up with criminal convictions.

“This will be a wider discussion under the next government but once people get their head around the argument, about what decriminalisation actually means, that policy won’t be about the drug but about the individual,” he said. “Then regardless of the drug the individual needs an intervention and society will be saying, ‘the substance is illegal, but you are not a criminal for taking it’.”

If decriminalisation goes ahead, it would remain a crime to sell, distribute or profit from illegal drugs, but it would not be a crime to be an addict or have a small amount for personal use.

Ó Ríordáin also announced that drug users in Dublin will be able to use supervised injecting rooms next year, before the programme rolls out to Cork, Galway and Limerick.

His address comes in the wake of leaked report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime appearing to call for worldwide decriminalisation. The report was allegedly withdrawn after at least one nation put pressure on the UN to bury its findings.

In March this year, a bizarre legal oversight led to drugs including ecstasy, ketamine and magic mushrooms being made legal in Ireland for 48 hours. [via Irish Times/Independent]