Fight drugs and alcohol ruthlessly

WITH drugs ravaging a large section of our population, is it not about time that we had a hard-hitting State-sponsored TV and print media campaign against this creeping horror?

We also need a more determined initiative within the education system to counteract the fatal attraction of drugs among the younger age groups.

The TV anti-drink driving campaign has had at least some positive impact.

It makes you think twice about driving after drinking when you see those horrific images of death, injury, suffering, grief and trauma that may follow if you take the risk.

The TV licence ads have also frightened a lot of viewers who might otherwise have gambled on not being caught by the inspectors.

But we have yet to witness a similar no-holds barred media or educational initiative aimed at stamping out drug abuse and making life difficult for the pushers.

In her fascinating book, On the Beat, retired Garda Mary T O’ Connor says she often felt she would like to “bring every secondary school student to Store Street station at six o’clock in the morning, and open up the cell door of an addict who has been there all night”.

The revolting stench, and the sight of a body disintegrating after prolonged drug abuse would, she points out, make anyone at least question the wisdom of starting down the road of addiction.

Listening to a reformed addict speak may, she warns, give the erroneous impression that you can abuse drugs to your heart’s content and still bounce back to health and normality.

But if the speaker standing in front of a secondary school class were in the middle of his or her tortures, the students would be given a real incentive to avoid drugs at all costs.

I totally agree. I believe that schools need to get really tough with drug abuse by pulling no punches in their education programmes.

And TV messages containing the most nightmarish, vomit-inducing scenes depicting the effects of drug addiction are utterly essential if we are to even stand an outside chance of curing this national cancer and putting the merchants of death out of business.

Each ad could display both a helpline phone number for addicts, and the confidential garda number.

There is no room for pussyfooting around when the health and lives of so many men, women and children are at stake.

John Fitzgerald

Lower Coyne Street

Callan

Co Kilkenny