Tranquilliser craze - We are awash with drugs

LIKE it or not, Ireland is awash with drugs.

The latest craze involves Valium and Xanax, tranquillising pills known on the street as “sweets” and “smarties”, an image that could hardly be less appropriate.

Apparently, only alcohol and cannabis are more popular among teenagers, with some running up huge bills to feed their craving for the highly addictive pills. That children as young as 14 are getting hooked on these drugs is frightening. Setting a pattern of addiction which will bedevil their young lives, the tranquillisers are available on prescription but are bought by teens on the streets for anything from 50 cent to €5 each.

Considering the fate of Ciaran Noonan, believed to have been killed over drug debts and whose body was found in a ditch, the risk to those who owe money to dealers cannot be exaggerated. The responsibility of parents to watch over their children and prepare them for life in a worrisome world has never been greater.