Drugs courts may be set up outside Dublin after trial

The drugs court being established in Dublin to offer rehabilitation for non-violent drugs offenders could be expanded to all the major cities, said the Minister for State with responsibility for the National Drugs Strategy, Mr Eoin Ryan.

Mr Ryan said any problems in the operation of the court should be sorted out during the 18-month trial basis, but he hoped it would be extended outside Dublin.

"I would like to see it operate eventually in each of the major cities," said Mr Ryan. He believed the court, which will offer 100 non-violent drug offenders the chance to obtain rehabilitation, will prove highly successful.

"It's something that a lot of people have been calling for, certainly in cases where families go in with somebody abusing drugs. Rather than seeing their son or daughter going to prison, they now have an option of going for rehab," he said. "In these cases, family support is very, very important for people trying to get off drugs and rehabilitate themselves. I honestly feel it will be popular with abusers who want to be rehabilitated and I think it will be very successful."

Mr Ryan was speaking at the Millennium Mayors' Conference of the European Cities Against Drugs organisation in Cork. The Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, warned delegates that while cannabis, amphetamines and ecstasy were the most commonly used drugs in rural areas, heroin was now beginning to take hold in areas outside Dublin.

"Parents should be aware that no matter where people live in rural Ireland, drugs are available. Nowhere is safe and there are no drug-free areas in this country." Earlier, murdered reporter Veronica Guerin was honoured when the Lord Mayor of Cork, Mr Damian Wallace, made a presentation to her husband, Mr Graham Turley.