Drug Seizures Welcome but New Approach Needed to Deal with Problem

The Labour Party TD for Dublin Central, Deputy Joe Costello, has congratulated the Gardai on the two major drug seizures in the Dublin area over the weekend.
Deputy Costello said that while these seizures would represent a major set back for the drug barons involved, they also pointed to the extent of the drug problem we are facing. “The seizures made by the Gardai represent only a fraction of the illicit drugs coming into the country.
More drugs are seized more sectors of the community are experiencing drug use, more people are using drugs and more new drugs are coming on the market.
The use of the Liffey Boardwalk for drug pushing during the summer months highlighted the extent of the problem. In a three month period the Gardai arrested over 400 people on the Boardwalk under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
The quantity of drugs seized in recent months is greater than any time in our history. Clearly the drug barons are stocking up early for the Christmas market. A consignment of heroin worth €7 million was seized in Rathoath, Co Meath, last month. A consignment worth €10 million was intercepted in Belgium en route to a private Irish airfield by means of a private jet, this month.
When we consider that there are an estimated 15,000 drug addicts in the country and when we consider that an estimated 75% of the prisoners in Mountjoy Prison are imprisoned for drug-related offences we have some idea of the amount of crime that is committed to feed addiction, the cost to the taxpayer and the human cost to the victims.
The illegal drugs trade is now out of control. The authorities have evens an uphill battle to try and contain it.
There is no interest or leadership at Government level. None of the five pillars of the National Drug Strategy are being implemented effectively, namely supply reduction, prevention, treatment and research. Likewise, the new pillar that has been added on to the Strategy, namely rehavilitation, is starved of resources. A whole new approach is required if our young people are to be protected from the scourge of drugs and our citizens and communities from drug related crime.