Parents pay price for drug debts of children, says judge

A judge has warned that drug users are putting their families in danger due to the drug debts they build up, as he sentenced a man to a month in prison for possession of cocaine.

Judge James McNulty said families, and in particular parents, often paid a real price because of debts built up by their children, often facing the threat of violence if that money was not repaid. He made his comments in the case of Jack McCarthy, aged 24, of Creagh Beg in Lisavaird near Clonakilty, Co Cork.