President Barack Obama and David Simon, the creator of HBO’s The Wire, sat down to talk about the challenges law enforcement face and the consequences of the war on drugs.

Mr Obama said efforts to change attitudes and laws regarding drug use and mass incarceration would be a long-term affair but he claimed that the US is in the midst of a “smart” and “productive” conversation about the drug war.

“If we can start down this path to a more productive way of thinking about drugs and its intersection with law enforcement, 20 years from now we can say to ourselves, maybe we got a little smarter. We didn’t get here overnight, we’re not going to get out of it overnight,” Mr Obama said. The pre-recorded conversation was first shown at the Bipartisan Criminal Justice Summit before being posted YouTube.

Even the POTUS couldn’t hide his adoration for The Wire, which portrayed the effects of drug prohibition on all facets of life in a fictionalised Baltimore. “Huge fan” Obama admitted that the ‘Omar Little’ was his favourite character from the critically-acclaimed show.

Former Baltimore Sun crime reporter turned television show producer, Simon has emerged as one of the most vocal critics of the drug war. He co-authored a piece in 2008 urging Americans serving on juries to refrain from convicting people of drug crimes and offered to bring back “The Wire” for a sixth season if the Obama administration agreed to change its drug policies.

No news yet on whether Enda Kenny is set to sit down with Love/Hate creator Stuart Carolan on how Ireland can best tackle gangland crime...