A DUBLIN City councillor has said he is not in favour of new moves to decriminalise possession of certain drugs in Ireland.

The Oireachtas Justice Committee is seeking submissions from people and organisations on alternatives to the current model of criminalisation.

Speaking ahead of tomorrow’s deadline to make written submissions on the proposed policy, Fianna Fail councillor Cormac Devlin, said we should be cautious about decriminalisation.

Drugs Minister, Aodhan O Riordain, recently joined the debate by saying he is in favour of the decriminalisation of some drugs, which would see people who are caught in possession of small amounts being dealt with outside the criminal justice system.

A new National Drugs Strategy is being considered as the current strategy expires next year.

“There is clearly a mood to consider decriminalising certain quantities and types of drugs,” Cllr Devlin said.

“We have to be cautious, and I don’t favour the change personally,” said Cllr Devlin.

“It would be dangerous and premature to say the current system is not working. The problem is we have underfunding of key services for drug treatment.”