COMMUNITY groups from some of Dublin's worst affected drugs areas protested outside Leinster House yesterday as TDs met to discuss legislation aimed at tackling the crisis.
The City Wide Campaign Against Drugs called on TDs to integrate the justice element of their anti crime and drugs legislation into a coherent strategy encompassing education and treatment for drug addicts.
Mr Seanie Lamb, a campaign member, said about 50 TDs accepted an invitation to talk to people from areas with drug problems.
Mr Fergus McCabe, also of the campaign, said the meeting was to make politicians "aware of the extent of feeling in the communities and that they realise the need for treatment and community work as well as legislation".
The deputy leader of Fianna Fail, Ms Mary O'Rourke, said: "We politicians don't yet realise the depth of the despair. The drugs problem is the issue in the country at the minute, it's what matters most. If the political doggedness could match the community doggedness, then there could be real progress."
