“When I first began smoking cannabis, I was just 16 years old,” says Matt, a 25-year-old from Co Meath. Experimentation is common at that age. His friends were doing it, so he did too. He felt it eased the anxiety he faced as a teenager and young adult.

With the citizens assembly on drug use set to recommend decriminalisation following its final meeting this weekend, Édaein OConnell asks what we can learn from other countries
When I first began smo…