New strategy a radical, bold effort to tackle drugs problem

On Thursday morning Eoin Ryan launched his National Drugs Strategy. It is the most far-reaching and radical attempt ever taken in this State to tackle drug abuse. Few policies can have been more timely or necessary.

A couple of months ago I wrote here about the extent to which we have an absurd cultural tolerance of certain types of drug abuse. This is a country were inebriation and social interaction go hand in hand. This is a country where the social success of a get-together is sometimes gauged by the alcoholic consumption of the attendance. I do not wish to sound entirely joyless. I do take a drink myself and rather enjoy it.

As a nation, we accept, condone and even glorify alcohol abuse. We accept that the disease of alcoholism is pitiable and deserving of treatment. We accept that alcoholics deserve every assistance in their recovery from an awful illness.

Tragically, however, we do not extend the same degree of humanity and understanding to those with an addiction to illegal drugs. When the heroin epidemic first gripped Dublin in the early 1980s our response was lethargic. Today local groups continue in their opposition to the establishment of drugs rehabilitation centres in their neighbourhoods.

There is an urgent need to cease our ambivalence now and start getting to grips with the problem of drug abuse. It is causing havoc to individuals, families and communities all over the country. Eoin Ryan's strategy will hopefully greatly reduce its effects.

Since becoming Minister of State responsible for the National Drugs Strategy, Eoin Ryan has been most effective in advancing a partnership approach with the communities most affected by heroin addiction and its effects through the local Drugs Task Forces. His new strategy builds on this approach.

It emerges from a comprehensive review of existing drugs policy and includes an extensive nationwide public consultation process. It is based again upon this partnership approach, taking on board the expertise and experience of those immediately concerned with the treatment and prevention of drug abuse.

It is a radical strategy for a number of reasons. It sets out clear and precise policy targets in the areas of drug supply, reeducation, prevention, treatment and research; it bring together all elements of drugs policy into a single framework; it sets out the clear responsibilities the different Departments have in dealing with drugs policy; it designates a series of 100 actions which Government Departments and agencies must carry out in the short, medium and long term; it sets out specific performance indicators.

FOR example, in the area of treatment the strategy sets out seven clear indicators These include the provision of immediate access for drug-abusers to professional assessment and counselling by health board services, followed by start of treatment within a month of assessment; the increase of treatment places to 6,000 by the end of this year and to a minimum of 6,500 by the end of 2002; and the provision of training and employment opportunities to stabilise drug-abusers.

One of the key recommendations in this new strategy is that regional drugs task forces be set up throughout the country to develop policies which can cater to the specific needs of that region.

While heroin abuse remains most prominent in Dublin, drug abuse is occurring throughout the island. These task forces will focus on identifying and addressing the gaps in services provided to communities and individual affected by drug abuse.

To make sure the strategy is implemented, the Taoiseach has made Mr Ryan responsible for co-ordinating the strategy. He will chair an interdepartmental group on drugs charged with bringing six-monthly progress reports on the implementation of the strategy to the Cabinet Committee on Social Inclusion, which is chaired by the Taoiseach. In addition, an independent evaluation of the strategy will take place in 2004 to allow the strategy to be effectively established.

This strategy does not exist in a policy vacuum. Attempts to combat drug abuse occur within the wider framework of social inclusion policy. In order to tackle our heroin problem we have to tackle once and for all the problem of urban deprivation which exists in every single area where illicit drug addiction is a serious problem. In every one of these areas early school-leaving and the resulting poverty cycle have exacerbated the heroin problem.

The RAPID programme, an effort to fast-track projects under the National Development Plan, is focusing on the 25 disadvantaged areas, aiming to improve health, education, housing, childcare, community facilities and policing. In addition, the NDP is aiming £15 billion specifically at social inclusion measures.

Building on these policies, Mr Ryan's strategy is a bold and ambitious attempt to grapple with the harm caused by drug misuse in Ireland. To gauge just how radical this policy is, the following exercise may perhaps prove useful.

Obtain a copy of the National Drugs Strategy 2001-2008 from the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation and compare it with the dearth of specifics and the preponderance of generalisations in conventional policy papers and it will quickly bring home to the reader just how refreshing this drugs strategy is. The main elements should be implemented urgently.