Drugs policy - An abysmal track record

With Ireland experiencing a frightening increase in the amount of drugs recovered by the gardaí, the warning that children face a bleak future if the Government fails to take on vested interests in the alcohol and sports industries could not be more timely.

Coinciding with today’s launch of a national action plan to combat alcohol abuse, the criticism voiced by Citywide Drugs Crisis Campaign, the largest representative body of community drug projects in the country, should not go unheeded.

It would be disastrous if the administration’s abysmal track record in dealing with this crisis was to set the pattern for future policy. Already, the proposal of its own expert group recommending a ban on alcohol sponsorship of sport has been sidelined. The Coalition cannot afford to ignore Citywide’s call for drugs to become a major plank of Government policy.