Madam, - The recent spate of drug-related deaths is a stark reminder that addiction, in whatever form, is no respecter of class or creed. As the Chinese proverb says, nobody can put a sign outside his door saying: "Nothing the matter here". The current epidemic affects us all and demands action from us.
I believe it is useful to ask two questions: Why do we have such a problem? And what can we do to tackle it? The simple answer to the first question is that we have a major drugs problem because there is an insatiable and growing demand across all strata of Irish society. This is a function, I believe, of our unprecedented prosperity since the mid-1990s. Many young people have never seen, nor do they expect to see, a rainy day; and, awash with funds, they look for new stimuli to feel alive.
These impressionable people are badly served by our infatuation with celebrity. We are relentlessly bombarded in the media by endless stories of Z-list personalities toying with addiction, as if it were some glamorous and inherited (rather than self-inflicted) affliction.
But it's not just the young who have blind spots. As a nation, we have always had a very ambivalent attitude to addiction (especially alcohol addiction) and I believe that this attitude is one of our biggest obstacles in answering the second question - what can be done to tackle the problem?
I believe that we should adopt a three-pronged approach: awareness, education and enforcement.
An aggressive awareness programme should cover all aspect of addiction and should include all ages from primary school upwards. Crucially, parents are often the last to be informed, and they should be the first.
Education in Ireland is excellent at giving students "points" skills, but less successful at transferring "life" skills. The SPHE programme should be extended beyond the junior cycle and students should be taught the values of taking personal responsibility and developing themselves spiritually. (Adults could do likewise.) Teachers who notice chronic absenteeism might also have a role in detecting vulnerable students and referring them for counselling.
Enforcement could take the form of random testing of motorists and (more controversially) students, night clubs, etc, in addition to targeting the supply lines.
It is time to stop blaming our woes on the usual suspects (Bertie, the HSE, etc). Clinging to the nanny-state nurse is not the answer. We all have to take responsibility for fighting this particular infidel, and we need to face fundamental questions about how our attitudes have got us to this place. Maybe our biggest enemy is facing us in the mirror. - Yours, etc,
GERARD KELLY,
New Quay,
Co Clare.