Girls, 15, prostituting for heroin

GIRLS as young as 15 are turning to prostitution to fund their heroin addiction, according to a disturbing report of drug use in the midlands.

The study found there are as many as 450 heroin addicts in Athlone and Portlaoise. The population of Athlone is just over 16,000, with 12,000 people living in Portlaoise.

A number of teenagers regularly travel to Dublin to fund their addiction through prostitution.

The survey by the Midland Regional Drug Task Force (RDTF) found:

Girls as young as 15 are experimenting with heroin

There are second-generation heroin users there

Users are getting younger

Some users are engaging in prostitution to feed their habit

There is a spread in hepatitis C and HIV from sharing injecting equipment.

The research, due to be published in December, follows a separate report last Friday highlighting the spread of heroin in Ireland.

That report, by the Health Research Board, noted particularly sharp rises in counties Carlow, Westmeath, Cavan, Louth and Meath.

Research carried out for the Midland Regional Drug Task Force (RDTF) estimates there are between 80 and 300 heroin users in Athlone and between 70 and 150 in Portlaoise.