Ahern backs off immigrant crack use remarks

DRUGS Strategy Minister Noel Ahern has toned down comments suggesting the use of crack cocaine in Ireland is limited to immigrant groups.

Questioned in the Dáil last week about the prevalence of the drug, Mr Ahern responded: “While it is obtainable in Dublin, thus far it has been largely confined to certain community groups. It is an open question as to whether it stays within those community groups or spreads out among native Dubliners.”

He stressed that while crack cocaine was “a particularly lethal and awful drug”, it had not become “a major problem” in this country.