Concerns over rehab as opiate use soars

PRESSURE mounted on the Government last night to roll out more rehabilitation facilities for heroin users as research showed the number of opiate takers outside Dublin had soared by 165% in the last five years.

But as the amount of opiate drug takers increased outside the capital, the numbers of young heroin users in Dublin are declining.

The National Advisory Committee on Drugs (NACD) study stresses the need for treatment centres in the rest of Ireland to meet the growing numbers of heroin addicts.