Drug users in the cold as resources dry up

COCAINE addicts seeking help for their habit have had to be turned away from a community drug programme because of a lack of space.

The Kilbarrack Coast Community Programme (KCCP) in north Dublin said it had been forced to discontinue its drop-in service and turn away cocaine users seeking help due to inadequate resources.

Those involved in the running of the drug treatment and rehabilitation programmes, which have been in operation for more than 10 years and which have catered for more than 100 people, claim that the failure to provide a new Youth and Resource Centre is creating a breeding ground for addition in the area.

The last Census put the number of people in the 10 to 19 age group in the area at 1,299, but the KCCP said there were few safe places for them to gather. It operates four youth clubs from what a spokesman termed “tiny, inadequate rooms”.

Meanwhile, the KCCP drug treatment programme also operates from “inadequate premises,” meaning that the number of clients linking in on a daily basis has to be restricted to 19, with a further 18 people on the waiting list.

Earlier this year more than 1,500 signatures were collected for a petition calling for a new youth and community resource centre for the area, while a 12-person committee has also campaigned to secure a premises through Government funding, but to no avail.

The PRO of the Kilbarrack/Foxfield Regeneration Campaign, Declan Byrne, said unless action was taken in the near future, many young people in the area were in danger of succumbing to drug addiction.

“What makes Kilbarrack different to some surrounding areas is that the community has tried to do something about drug problem), but it is ironic that it is rewarded by not being given facilities,” he said.

Mr Byrne said the local community group had been given “vague promises” of funding, but little action had been taken.

Before the last election one site was identified and possible funding of €3.5 million was mooted from the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.

Mr Byrne said cross-community support for a new centre was evident, yet limits on space meant that at least six people who had presented with cocaine problems in the past six months had not been able to avail of adequate treatment.

“We have people with training who could be of benefit to cocaine users, but where do we fit them in?” he asked.