Preliminary results of post-mortems on the bodies of three young west Belfast men have shown that they died from the effects of a cocktail of prescription drugs and of alcohol poisoning.
The exact cause and circumstances of their deaths, however, are to be determined by a coroner's inquest for which no date has yet been set. The prescription drugs are believed to be morphine and diazepam.
The bodies of Mr Eamon McCoubrey (22), of Hannahglen Heights, and Mr Jim O'Connor (20), of Beechmount Drive, were found at Mr O'Connor's girlfriend's home at Westrock Green in the Whiterock area of west Belfast on Sunday morning.
Shortly after, the body of a third man, Mr Thomas Sterritt (18), of Tullymore Walk, Andersonstown, was discovered at his home address.
The three, who are reported to have been friends, spent Saturday night at a Falls Road night-spot before going on to a party where they consumed the lethal mixture of alcohol and drugs.
Other young people who attended the party have been urged to seek immediate medical attention.
The Assembly's Health Committee is to put the drugs issue at the top of its agenda when MLAs return after the summer recess. The committee's chairman, Dr Joe Hendron, of the SDLP, who is also a GP, said a mixture of prescription drugs and alcohol was extremely dangerous.
"A combination of alcohol, diazepam and any form of morphine is absolutely lethal, and if a person goes to sleep then they might just not wake up again. Their respiratory sensor in the lower part of their brain would be directly affected by that," he said.
One committee member, Ms Sue Ramsey, of Sinn Fein, yesterday called for an urgent meeting with the North's drugs strategy co-ordinator, Ms Jo Daykin. She also urged the North and West Belfast Trust to provide counselling for the families and friends of the three.
Ms Daykin urged young people to "stop playing Russian roulette" with their lives.
"We lost the war on drugs a long time ago in that I don't believe that we will ever see a drug-free Northern Ireland again. Drugs are here to stay, but I believe that there are many things we can do to minimise harm and change attitudes and make adults more aware," she said.
"In particular, we must tackle a youth culture in which many people feel that it is `cool' to take drugs," she added.
The project co-ordinator of the Falls Community Council's drugs programme, Mr Gerry McConville, said the community was still deeply shocked by the tragedy. He said his group was very keen to meet Ms Daykin, insisting that a multiagency approach was needed to tackle the problem of drugs misuse in west Belfast.
A local youth worker, Mr Pat Gregory, said children as young as 12 had no problem getting hold of drugs. "They can buy them sometimes as joints for £1 or they buy Es for £5. You can see there are kids running about with their eyes glazed and it is happening in 12-, 13- and 14-year-olds."