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A PHD student has said he’s happy to risk revealing himself as a drug user in a bid to change public opinion.

Dan Kirby, 27, opens up about his recreational drug use in tonight’s RTE Reality Bites documentary Party Pills as he feels the public need to realise not all drug users are hardcore addicts.

The Westmeath man, who admits to dabbling in marijuana, ecstasy and LSD, said he’s risking his job prospects by talking openly about his drug habits in the hope of changing the perception of users.

The biomedical physics student told the Irish Daily Mirror: “I think it’s important we talk about it.

“People would have been scared to come out as gay a few years ago but then you had the breakdown where a few people spoke about it and made life uncomfortable for themselves.

“I think the same thing needs to happen with drug use in Ireland.

“People need to be able to say, ‘I smoke a joint every so often’ or ‘I might take ecstasy when I’m at a music festival’.

“It takes a few people to come out and take a risk by talking about it.

“My parents weren’t delighted about it and a lot of people from where I come from in rural Ireland mightn’t be happy either.”

The DCU student, who is also a member of Students For Sensible Drug Policy, believes being more open will help curb Ireland’s drug problem by making young people more educated on the pros and cons of taking illicit substances.

Dan added: “People have this opinion of a drug user, they think you do it every day like a smoker might smoke every day.

“In reality, I can’t quite remember the last time I’ve done drugs but I have done in the past.

“I had an informed opinion on these drugs and I knew what size of dose to take and how long the effects would last so I had it well planned out.

“Of course there are risks – you could go out, take a pill and end up in hospital or even die.

"Just like you could if you were out drinking.”

Dan, who is specialising in cancer research, also believes the Government needs to make big changes to its drugs policy.

He said: “In the short term, I think it’s a lot more important to look at what we can do now and I think decriminalisation is a realistic thing we can do.

“We can spend a long time talking about the pros and cons of legalisation and

regulation but it’s going to be very tricky to come to a consensus with that.

“There’s an awful lot more research that needs to be done.”

Reality Bites: Party Pills is on RTE Two at 10pm tonight.

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