Drug deaths - Scourge on streets must be tackled

The two deaths in Cork last week as a result of overdosing on heroin highlights the fact that the drug problems have not gone away.

Indeed, they are growing.

The fatal consequences of drug use are frequently attributed to the adulteration of the drug with some toxic material, but the two latest Cork deaths — along with another death in Dublin — were blamed on the high purity of the heroin used. Initial tests indicate that the heroin in Cork and Dublin was of a similar composition.

In addition to the two deaths, at least eight people were seriously ill in Cork University Hospital (CUH) as a result of using super-concentrated heroin. Dr Chris Luke, a consultant in emergency medicine at CUH, noted that the batch was in a purer form than “the users in Cork are used to”.

Fifteen years ago drug problems were almost unknown in the city. The CUH might have dealt with one or two overdoses in a year, and frequently those were visitors from Dublin or London. But now the hospital deals with twice that number on a daily basis.

The two heroin deaths last week came just a fortnight after two graduates died in Kinsale after taking a deadly form of ecstasy. Cork City Coroner’s Court will hear details next month of two heroin-related drug death in Cork City last Christmas.

“Every drug seems to be here now,” Dr Luke warned. “Cork has now joined the ranks of other major EU cities struggling with a range of hard drug problems.”

During the 1980s Dublin was the focus of drug abuse in Ireland, but it is now much more extensive and can be found in just about any place in the country. Merchants Quay Ireland noted in its annual review for 2011 a slight decrease in the number of intravenous drug users attending its services in Dublin, but there are no grounds for any complacency, because the figures are growing alarmingly elsewhere.

In Cork and Kerry, recent figures indicate that there are around 400 people using heroin. The majority of those smoke the drug, but there has been an increase in the number injecting. The figure for users in Limerick is around 800, which rose by a factor of eight during the past decade.

Much of the problem is centred in Limerick City, where there has been a distinctly disturbing trend in the increase in the number of young women who have developed heroin habits. The ratio of women presenting for drug treatment in Limerick has increased from 25% to 40%. The problem is apparently being aggravated by the recession. Although there have been suggestions that the problem could be about to plateau, this may well be just wishful thinking. The numbers presenting for treatment of heroin addiction in the Limerick area rose by over 42% between 2008 and last year.

Similar drug problems have developed elsewhere in Europe and in North America, but it seems that we have not learned any lessons. Surely we should be learning from the mistakes of others, not just heedlessly following suit.