A LACK of concrete information about drug use is hampering efforts to tackle it, a youth leader said yesterday.
The president of the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI), Mr Simon Nugent, called on the Government to support a series of proposals in its submission to the Ministerial Task Force on Measures to Reduce Demand For Drugs. The youth council wants a national drugs strategy and research on the extent of the problem.
Drug use among young people in recent years had grown alarmingly, Mr Nugent said. "Changes in the criminal and judicial system will not solve the problem and law enforcement will not eliminate the use of drugs. Treatment services are far from adequate in the Dublin area, with waiting lists of up to two years. Beyond Dublin, treatment services are almost non existent."
The task force is due to present a report to the Government at the end of the month containing recommendations for an effective approach to tackle demand for drugs.
Among the NYCI's other recommendations are a review of the effectiveness and provision of treatment services for addicts and the provision of greater back up and resources to be given to youth organisations developing drug prevention programmes.
The NYIC submission also includes a call for the current substance abuse prevention programme run in post primary schools, "On Our Own Two Feet", to be made compulsory.
The Ministerial task force which was established by the Government in July, is chaired by the Minister of State to the Government, Mr Pat Rabbitte. The five other Ministers of State on the task force are Mr Gay Mitchell (Department of the Taoiseach); Mr Austin Currie (Health); Ms Liz McManus (Environment); Mr Bernard Durkan (Social Welfare) and Mr Brian O'Shea (Health).