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.

It can also have volatile repercussions for society. Initially, because supply tends to outstrip demand, dealers set a low price with the aim of getting people addicted. Ultimately, however, prices rise sharply as demand increases and addicts tend to become involved in crime, committing assaults and burglaries to get their hands on the money they need to buy drugs. Inevitably, turf wars break out between criminal gangs fighting for control of this heinous business.

We can ill afford to ignore the ominous warning of medical consultant Dr Chris Luke in today’s feature article depicting a frightening scenario of death, disease and civic disorder arising from the current nationwide epidemic of drug-taking.