Some drug addicts ‘should not be prosecuted’

Drug addicts who are dealing to feed their own habit should be diverted into treatment rather than prosecuted before the courts, according to an addiction service.

Tony Duffin, director of Ana Liffey Drug Project, was responding to the findings of a major report commissioned and conducted by State research agencies.

The report, Illicit Drug Markets in Ireland, said that drug availability was “largely unaffected” by law enforcement and that the trade was more “integrated” than ever into communities.