Heroin epidemic - Can’t ignore the warnings

HEROIN is a seriously dangerous drug and that’s what makes the rising tide of addiction in Cork so alarming. The worsening scenario underlines the importance of fresh moves by a local taskforce, set up in the late 1990s, to draw up a pilot strategy aimed at dealing with the city’s growing crisis.

With the help of an experienced GP and the backing of the Cork Local Drugs Taskforce, medical support is now being provided discreetly for addicts in one community where use of the drug is spreading. The aim is to involve heroin smokers in a pilot detox programme, consisting of a pre-treatment support service, in the hope of deterring them from going on to inject heroin.

The problems associated with the drug are widely known. Invariably the repercussions are disastrous for addicts. The symptoms of withdrawal range from intense anxiety, aches, shakes, chills, stomach cramps and diarrhoea to sweating, sleeplessness, and muscle spasms.