Government urged to tackle 'cocaine epidemic'

IRELAND is facing a "cocaine epidemic" and the Government urgently needs to fund prevention and treatment, probation officers said yesterday.

The warning came after a foreign chemist was jailed for eight years for running a sophisticated cocaine laboratory in Kilkenny.

The Government yesterday said a forthcoming review of the national drugs strategy would focus on the growing cocaine problem.

Garda sources said cocaine had replaced ecstasy as the second most popular drug (after cannabis) and prices had dropped.

A gramme of cocaine is being sold for between €30 and €50, almost half the price it was a few years ago.

"Ireland is facing a general cocaine epidemic and it has drawn the attention of international cartels. We are dealing with more and more people, from all social classes. Cocaine is hitting everyone," said Oliver Fallon, spokesman for the Probation Service branch of the Impact union.

In Kilkenny Circuit Court yesterday, Bolivian chemist Juan Carlos Melgar Alba was jailed for his part in manufacturing an estimated €255,000 worth of cocaine.

Cocaine was extracted from clothing impregnated with the drug, smuggled into Ireland by a gang, thought to be Nigerian.

The Probation and Welfare Service was involved in compiling a report for the court on the 39-year-old.

"We can't comment on individual cases, but generally we have to deal with the aftermath when these people are caught," said Mr Fallon.

"Prison is not usually the best place to deal with people with drug issues. Sometimes it is.

"We would urge the Government to spend more resources in the probation area and on prevention and treatment."

He said it was difficult to design programmes for cocaine offenders, as drug treatment programmes were tailored for heroin users.

While heroin addicts could receive a substitute, methadone, there was no substitute for cocaine.

Fine Gael spokesman on drugs Fergus O'Dowd criticised drugs minister Noel Ahern for being "too complacent and laid back" about cocaine.

Mr Ahern said the national drugs strategy review would "concentrate on cocaine use" and the long-term damage to users.

Anna Quigley of the Citywide Drugs Crisis Campaign (CDCC) said: "We're glad he has come around to our point of view that cocaine is a serious problem. The structures are there in local task forces to set up cocaine projects. What they need now is funding."

In a CDCC survey in April, 25 out of 27 drug projects had clients using cocaine.