Drug gangs targeting secondary schools in Limerick, claims FF election candidate

As gardaí uncovered an alleged cocaine-making lab in Galway, a Fianna Fáil councillor has revealed how drug dealers are “targeting secondary schools” in Limerick.

James Collins, a former mayor of Limerick, said he met with drug treatment councillors this week who told him “shocking stories of drug dealers targeting secondary school students now, in the same way as they would traditionally have targeted third-level students”.

“We have only a handful of drug treatment counsellors operating in the mid-west, with a backlog of more than 200 young men waiting to access services, such as the Cuan Mhuire addiction treatment centre in Co Limerick,” said Cllr Collins, who is a General Election candidate in the Limerick city constituency.

“I have confirmed with gardaí reports from addiction counsellors of a surge in cocaine addiction among teenagers, with drugs gangs now deliberately targeting teenage girls and boys in secondary schools.”

Mr Collins said many of these young students “see the drug as recreational and somehow less harmful to them than alcohol on a night out”.

“We have to get the message out there that cocaine is highly dangerous, and the furthest thing from a ‘recreational drug’. We have seen young men die in Limerick and in Cork after taking cocaine laced with dangerous chemicals,” he added.

The publican said Limerick gardaí “successfully tackled the drug gangs in Limerick in the recent past”, but he called for an urgent “step-up in our response” to the cocaine crisis in the region.

“Addiction is not only ruining individual lives, it’s fueling the increased number of burglaries we are witnessing in Limerick,” he said.

Citing Fianna Fáil plans to “add 2,000 extra gardaí nationwide, at a cost of €47m per annum”, Cllr Collins promised that “Limerick, as Ireland’s third city, will get a proportional share of these so we can get community garda numbers back up, and extend community CCTV schemes across the county”.

“Policing is only one approach,” he offered.

We need to increase the number of drug addiction counsellors, and the number of detox beds in the city. The detox beds in Limerick are approximately 40 times oversubscribed, such is the prevalence of drug addiction.

“We also need an educational campaign in our secondary schools to reinforce the message that cocaine and ecstasy are highly dangerous, potentially fatal, substances.”

Cllr Collins said the State had spent “approximately €242 million on drug addiction services nationwide last year”.

However, he concluded: “We need to reassess how we spend this money - we need to invest more in hiring drug counsellors, and in educating secondary school students about the real dangers involved.”