THE EXTENT of cocaine abuse among young people Ireland has been “exaggerated” in recent years, the newly titled Minister for Drugs, John Curran, has said. “It’s somewhat exaggerated, the use of cocaine,” he told The Irish Times, after details of his new title and “streamlined” office were announced.
“The reality is that most young people don’t take drugs, the vast majority don’t. It [cocaine] has been increasing but from a very low base, though it is fair to say it impacts people of very different ages and from many social backgrounds.”
Mr Curran said the new national drugs strategy would be launched next Thursday week, September 10th, with much of the content founded on the premise that alcohol is a problematic gateway drug to illicit substances.
The new strategy recognised and sought to address the shortage of treatment options outside Dublin for the growing number of heroin addicts throughout Ireland.
Heroin was no longer confined to pockets of Dublin. There were black spots across the country, including Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Limerick and the Midlands.
Treatment options in these places were limited and often involved very long waiting times.
Mr Curran said measures contained in the new national drugs strategy, which covers the period to 2016, would address some of the problems.
There would also be new treatment options preparing drug users before they entered often difficult treatment programmes.
A new emphasis would also be placed on engaging former drug users in aftercare when they emerged from residential treatment programmes drug-free.
Mr Curran said while introducing so-called “injecting rooms” – State-run facilities where heroin users could inject drugs safely – had been ruled out, a number of harm-reduction measures like needle exchanges formed part of the new strategy.
Until now Mr Curran has been a Minister of State in the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs with responsibility for the national drugs strategy.
From September 1st a new Office of the Minister for Drugs will begin, with Mr Curran the new Minister for Drugs.
He will retain his responsibilities for community and integration affairs.
The new office subsumes the drugs strategy unit and the recently defunct national drugs strategy team within the Department.
“The new single office will streamline service administration and further improve co-ordination across the statutory, community and voluntary sectors,” he said. Mr Curran added the new structures would bring a “renewed vigour” to tackling the drugs issue.
He said the publication of the new national drugs strategy had been delayed for nine months because including alcohol in the approach had resulted in a more lengthy process than first envisaged.
The budget for the new drugs strategy was “unchanged” at €275 million.