Drugs such as ecstasy are available in every town and village in the State and attitudes to the so-called "recreation drug" would have to change if the problem was to be tackled, the Assistant Garda Commissioner - Northern Region, Mr Kevin Carty, has said.
Mr Carty, a former head of the Garda Drugs Squad, said the problem was not confined to large urban areas. While heroin was available only in cities, drugs such as amphetamines, cannabis and ecstasy were everywhere. He believed prevention was the only answer to the problem. "We now have a situation where it is probably regarded as more unsocial to smoke cigarettes than it is to take ecstasy."
"Young people today are very well educated and mature and they are going to take rational decisions. We cannot just say `don't take drugs'. We have to give them the arguments and point out the dangers." Mr Carty also stressed that drug abuse and prevention were not solely an issue for the gardai. Health and education authorities and local communities also had to be involved.
"The guards are not capable of turning the drug problem around on their own. It is a community issue."
He said the problem was no different in the north west than in any other region and he believed the Border was not a significant factor. "Ecstasy is all over the country. People have this idea of fellas in balaclavas selling drugs in dark alleys, but it's not like that." Mr Carty, who presented Garda Youth Achievement awards in Sligo on Tuesday night to mark European Drug Prevention Week, said it was vital to get the message across to very young children, as this was when attitudes were formed.