Huge hike in drug deaths in 1990s

DRUG-RELATED deaths rocketed in the 1990s, according to a support group working with the homeless and drug users.

Launching a campaign today to highlight the dangers of drug abuse, support group Merchant Quay Ireland (MQI) said drug deaths increased from seven in 1990 to 90 in 1999.

It said heroin abuse and drug-related deaths are firmly linked to poverty and social exclusion. And most of the country’s 15,000 heroin users, it emerged, are based in Dublin.

MQI is seeking funding for the provision of crucial support programmes such as needle exchange services.

The country’s sole residential treatment centre has achieved a 32% success rate in encouraging drug users to complete its treatment programmes, MQI said. Director Tony Geoghegan said: “many people think drug abuse is a problem with no solution. That is not true.” His organisation is launching a national awareness campaign to highlight the damage and dangers of drug use and to showcase the solutions which work.

MQI is also urging the Government, businesses and the wider community to redouble their efforts in dealing with the problem.

Mr Geoghegan said research showed public attitudes towards drug addicts were negative and unsympathetic, further characterised by fear and a desire to avoid such individuals.

The new campaign, Dealing with Drugs, aims to address such attitudes, he said, by providing accurate information on the known risks associated with heroin use, by showing that drug problems often develop in response to emotional distress and by demonstrating that treatment works.

“Positive attitudes to drug users are essential to their social integration and to their willingness to avail of treatment,” he said.

“Negative attitudes help feed their addiction and their sense of hopelessness, making it difficult for drug users to engage in treatment and recovery programmes.

“Some addicts often experience a relapse, but many seize the opportunity and move on. They prove that not all heroin users die.”

Meanwhile, within the past five years, more than 10,000 heroin users sought support from the Merchant Quay Ireland group.

Mr Geoghegan said needle exchange programmes had proved to be highly effective in reducing HIV and Hepatitis C. The drawback, he said, was Ireland had only one full-time needle exchange service.