Minister for Justice Simon Harris has said people who use drugs need to be aware that it is not a victimless crime.
"There is a direct link between snorting a line, or taking a pill and murder, assault, criminality and misery," he told the Dáil.
Minister Harris said he is concerned at the growing social acceptance of drug taking.
"I am not talking about drug addiction, I am not talking about the pain and hurt of that," he said.
"People need support to overcome addiction and not stigma.
"We need to talk about the increasing prevalence of drug taking as part of a night out in Ireland.
"Any conversation we have about this kind of drug use cannot ignore this reality."
The minister said that "drug use on a Friday or Saturday night is supporting violence and crime".
"You are helping to line the pockets of criminals. Inflicting misery and pain across communities," he said.
"We need to get real about this, drug use is not victimless. The laws are clear and any night-time premises needs to be aware of the laws in this regard."
"We need to talk about the increasing prevalence of drug taking as part of a night out in Ireland."
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) February 16, 2023
Minister for Justice Simon Harris has said people who use drugs need to be aware that it is not a victimless crime | https://t.co/WPVXqXMTdT pic.twitter.com/MEnlCXwkJ7
He told the Dáil there is a need to move away "from attempts by criminal gangs to glamourise gangland activity" and he said the new bill will expose it for what it is.
Minister Harris also announced plans to increase the maximum sentences for conspiracy to murder from ten years to life in prison "to tackle those who direct gangland and drug related crime".
The Department of Justice is also to further roll-out The Greendown Project, a pilot programme that aims to break the link between gangs and the children they try to recruit.
Read more: Grooming law 'won't work' unless supported with anti-poverty strategy
Mr Harris also told the Dáil that he is preparing an amendment to the Children's Act (2001), which covers children convicted of serious crimes.
The amendment will ensure that "sufficient alternatives" to current sentencing provisions are provided, he said.
It will "maximise the alternative sentencing options available" and "remove existing barriers to their use", he said, particularly in relation to children who will turn 18 during the duration of their sentence.
Mr Harris said that the drafting of Heads of a Bill to provide for the amendment is under way.
He told Fine Gael TD Richard Bruton that he has been "examining the issue very carefully" following a recent court case.
Earlier this month, the sentencing of a 17-year-old boy for murder was delayed, when senior judge Mr Justice Tony Hunt appealed to the Oireachtas to correct what he said was a "yawning gap" in legislation.
Urantsetseg Tserendorj, 49, was stabbed by the boy while she was on her way home from her cleaning job in Dublin's north inner city on 20 January 2020.
She died nine days later. The boy was aged 14 at the time.
