Heroin use has become a national crisis, the chief executive of drug addiction and homelessness charity Merchants Quay Ireland has said.
Chief executive Tony Geoghegan, in advance of the launch of the charity’s annual review, said there had been an alarming increase in drug use outside Dublin in 2008.
The report, due to be officially launched this morning, found almost 20 new drug injectors attended the charity every week last year for needle exchange services.
Almost 5,286 people attended the charity’s drugs services last year, the report found, and 942 were new clients attending needle-exchange services.
There was also a continuing high level of demand for homeless services, with an increase of 12 per cent in interventions made with homeless people, the report said. There was also a 4 per cent increase in the number of meals provided during the year.
The report also identified the growing need for new services addressing heroin use in cities and towns outside Dublin. The charity now delivers services in Carlow, Offaly, Laois, Westmeath and Longford as well as Dublin.
Mr Geoghegan said cities such as Cork and Waterford, that might have been considered relatively unscathed five years ago, now had significant problems with heroin.
“In 2008 we have seen an alarming increase in drug use outside of Dublin. Heroin use is a national crisis.”
A national network of crisis, treatment and family support services was needed to ensure help is available at the earliest possible opportunity, before problems became entrenched, he said. The new National Drugs Strategy provided a framework for this, but there had been no commitment regarding resources.
Mr Geoghegan highlighted British research that showed for every £1 spent on drug treatment, £3 was saved in terms of social, health and criminal justice related costs.
Fine Gael’s spokeswoman on drugs Catherine Byrne said the figures were frightening. “Any available funding must be put to the best use and show positive results,” she said. “There are many things the country cannot afford and one of them is another failed drugs strategy.”
Labour’s drugs spokesman Jack Wall urged the Government to spend money now rather than dealing with crime, poverty and family breakdown caused by heroin addiction. “The Government should take on board, not just the cost of improving services in this sector, but also the cost of not improving them,” Mr Wall said.
