Merchant’s Quay questions Govt’s commitment to drugs strategy

The Merchant’s Quay Project in Dublin has questioned the Government’s commitment to the National Drugs Strategy.

The project’s annual report for 2003 showed that more than 1,300 drug users availed of its services last year, an increase of 5% on the figures for 2002. Merchant’s Quay said 600 of these were new drug users.

Speaking ahead of the launch of the report, director Tony Geoghegan asked: “Why are numbers continually up if we have this National Drugs Strategy that the Government are supposedly committed to?

"Our sense is that drugs has fallen off the agenda of this Government as an issue. There doesn’t appear to be a political will to invest in drug treatment services that were promised through the National Drugs Strategy.”