Status and money pull youth into drugs trade

More children are dealing drugs and selling them in secondary schools, according to research in a large Dublin suburb.

There are more children dealing drugs and selling in secondary schools, according to research in a large Dublin suburb.

Children as young as ten, predominantly boys, are working as drug “runners” and dealers, but girls as young as 12 are also been roped into the trade, the report said.

The trends are being driven by drug debt intimidation, the “social status and easy money” from dealing, family involvement and the general “normalisation” of drugs.

The study found that falling numbers of people in the Dublin 15 area are reporting intimidation over drug debts to gardai.

Detailed research conducted annually over the four years by the Blanchardstown Local Drug and Alcohol Task Force (BLDATF) uses a range of data sources for its work and involved interviews with 112 people, including 45 current and former drug users.

The 2019 Drug & Alcohol Trend Monitoring System (DATMS), covering the period 2018, found that the number of dealers had increased, with a rise in the number of under 18s dealing.

It said the reported average age of drug dealers was 14 in 2018, the same as in 2017, with the youngest age being 10, also unchanged.

It said the reported average age of drug runners (used to carry or hold small quantities of drugs) was 13, the same as the previous year, while the youngest was 10, up from eight in 2017.

The research, conducted by Janet Robinson and Jim Doherty, said that while the trade predominantly involved boys, girls “aged from 12” are also engaged in dealing and running.

It said that more young people dealing was contributing to greater access to drugs, with the young people distributing drugs to their peers and friends.

It said there a range of factors involved in children so young getting involved in the drug trade.

“The desire to increase social status is an important driver of drug dealing behaviour and to make 'easy money',” it said.

It said family involvement in drug dealing, with older siblings or parents, was a factor.

The 110-page report said that since the second year of its research people said drug debt intimidation was increasing.

“It is likely that there is a link between the increasing levels of drug debt intimidation and under 18s running and dealing, whereby young people are forced to hold and sell to pay off debts,” it said.

It added:

In all four years of the DATMS the normalisation of drug use had featured prominently. The common perception was that alcohol and drugs were widely used, risk free and socially acceptable.

The report said that untreated drug users were getting younger.

There was an increase from 60% to 78% in respondents who said there was dealing in schools, with the trade occurring in schools in both disadvantaged and affluent areas.

Cannabis herb, cocaine and MDMA (ecstasy) were the most common illegal drugs being sold, the report said.

Drug-related crimes with the largest increase in 2018 were the visible use of drugs in the community, drug debt intimidation and the visibility of drug dealing.

On drug-related intimidation, only 16% of people affected reported it to gardai (down from 28% in 2017), with 65% saying they did not ( up from 46% in 2017).

“Garda intervention was rarely sought with victims and families paying debts to protect their families,” it said.

Factors for this included:

• Victims were fearful the intimidation would escalate;
• Victims were fearful of highlighting their criminal activity;
• Perception that gardai did not have the capacity to provide much assistance;
• Victims would be considered a 'grass' within the community

Families reported that addiction within the family “caused conflict, turmoil and led to the breakdown of relationships and family units”.

Family members reported caring for grandchildren as their children were in addiction.

“They also reported having to deal with the fear, violence and financial implications associated with drug debt intimidation,” it said. “As a result their physical and mental health was compromised.”

In 2018, the BLDATF set up the Family Support Service, which operates a programme developed by the National Family Support Network.