Groups representing families of addicts hit out at being left out of forming national drugs strategy

Cindy Barry of Family Addiction Support Network said demand for their services was increasing, driven by cocaine and polydrug use, drug debt intimidation, gang grooming of children and intergenerational trauma. File picture: iStock

Groups representing families affected by addiction and people who have used drugs have strongly criticised the Department of Health in excluding them from developing the next national drugs strategy (NDS).

Family Addiction Recovery Ireland (FARI) and Uisce appeared before the first public sitting of a reconstituted Oireachtas Committee on Drugs, charged with making recommendations to the Government on the report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Drug Use, which reported in January 2024.