With regards to harder drugs like cocaine and heroin I don't think ending prohibition would work but offer schemes like needle exchanges, places to ingest the drugs safely like other countries might certainly help.

But cannabis well...

Prohibition of cannabis causes more problems than it solves.

Ending prohibition in Ireland would cause loss of income for gangs involved with cannabis, while in turn provide income for the government should they regulate it and the cannabis industry (Recreational/Medicinal and Hemp related) would offer some jobs. It would stop youngsters from getting their hands on it as easily as they do now. It would also stop the poor quality cannabis here in Ireland (gritweed and soapbar hash) which are problems in themselves and is another issue altogether.

Some try to say cannabis is the gateway drug, that's crap. The gateway is prohibition, if someone wants to get a bit of weed they have to do so through an illegal trade and these dealers maybe offering more than just weed and it opens you up to a world of harder drugs and other illegal activities.

We could also finally allow patients to obtain medical cannabis here which you can in 9 other EU countries and others around the world and also in 1/4th (13 of 52 states) of the USA.

Cannabis is schedule 1 here in Ireland and is deemed to have no medicinal value, hell cocaine and opiates are considered to have more medicinal value.

The problem is this goes against thousands of years of it's safe use without one death and lots of research on the subject.