Getting drugs ‘easy as ordering pizza’
Cannabis, ecstasy and heroin are all readily available on the streets and young people are only too willing to try these illegal substances, according to Fiona Walsh, co-ordinator of the newly-formed Western Regional Drugs Task Force (RDTF), covering counties Mayo, Galway and Roscommon.
"The infrastructure now is such that drugs can be anywhere, it's like dialling a pizza unfortunately. People can access drugs all over the country, anytime they want," Ms Walsh said.
One in four young people experiment with drugs, but only a small number as low as 8% go on to have actual long-term problems.
And the maturing process, she says, succeeds in getting most young people to kick the habit.
However, because we are a coastal nation, Ireland is one of the major conduits of drug trafficking into Europe, and unfortunately a percentage of these drugs stay within the local market.
The RDTF is an extension of the pilot programme of local task forces, which have been set up in 14 regions throughout the country which have been identified as areas experiencing high levels of drugs use.
"It's across the age groups, and the difficulty is that, in an urban context, sometimes it's very easy to measure the problem but in a rural context it's actually more problematic. There is actually lots of anecdotal evidence and information that there's a drug problem in every small town in Ireland.
"Our job is to try and identify the level of the problem, to prioritise and identify the gaps and put in prevention and education initiatives to deal with this. There's no doubt about it that people can access drugs if they want to.
"Unfortunately, one of the problems with ecstasy and dops a type of ecstasy is that this is a particularly dangerous mix.
"Ecstasy is made illegally so it doesn't go through any criteria for seeing what's in it. Dops are very strong and they have hallucinogenic properties, it has caused problems for people that have taken it.
"The problem with these drugs is that you're guessing, you don't know what is in it, and that in itself is frightening.
"People are probably taking drugs at an earlier age. Because of the increased availability you are always going to get increased experimentation. So the reality is that the drugs are there and because they are available people will experiment with them earlier," Ms Walsh said.
"People take drugs because they enjoy taking them. The pleasure principle is often the starting factor. Arrogance, certain situations and availability lead to ongoing problems.
"There is an experimentation stage because of the increased availability. An awful lot of people mature out of it. The maturing-out theory is correct and the job of health and other services is to provide early services for those who have developed long-term problems," she said.
