Alcohol and tobacco top substance abuse list in western region

The popular concept of "gateway drugs" has been questioned in a new report on substance misuse which has been released by the Western Health Board.

The report, which was presented to the Minister of State for Health, Mr Frank Fahey, in Galway yesterday says that regular alcohol use usually precedes experimentation with illegal drugs.

"Hard" drug use is often, but not always, preceded by earlier "soft " or legal drug use, and young people can and do stop at various stages along the way, the report notes.

Compiled by two researchers at the department of health promotion in NUI Galway, the study on substance misuse in the Western Health Board region evaluates existing research and recommends a policy response.

The rates of drug use in the region don't provide "undue cause for panic" compared to other populations, but the consumption of alcohol and frequency of drunkenness are significant.

The report recommends continued monitoring for both legal and illegal substance consumption rates, and notes that the potential introduction of heroin would be "particularly difficult to combat at an individual level".

The Western Health Board has employed addiction counsellors for many years, but has now adopted a formal policy on drug education which was outlined by Dr Sheelagh Ryan, chief executive of the board, in Galway yesterday. It has employed a drugs co-ordinator, Ms Fiona Walsh, and a drugs trainer, Ms Brenda Murphy, to work in co-operation with addiction counsellors in Counties Galway, Mayo and Roscommon.

This week, the board is hosting three seminars on drugs education in the three counties.

Prof Cecily Kelleher of NUI Galway said that the data published confirmed that the highest rates of use in the region were for the legal drugs - alcohol and tobacco - and cannabis was the most popular illegal substance.

Legal substance abuse was of most concern, she said.

The Minister of State, Mr Fahey, said parents must "wake up and inform themselves" on drug use by young people, as many "hadn't a clue" about what their children were involved in or threatened by.

He urged parents to attend the seminars being held this week, and also complimented the Garda in the region on drug detection in spite of very limited resources.