One of the big fears for gardai in Limerick was the prospect of heroin abuse increasing in the mid-west region, Chief Supt Noel O'Sullivan said at the fourth National Drugs Strategy Review consultation yesterday.
He said heroin seizures were relatively small but an increase in use would have a serious effect not just on users but on crime levels.
"This is one of the big worries we have about it," he said.
He said that a fortnight ago there was a seizure of heroin from people who had travelled from Dublin by hackney cab. "We believe this is going to be a trend for the future," he said.
According to Garda figures, cannabis accounts for 80 per cent of drugs seizures in Limerick, while ecstasy accounts for 16 per cent of seizures. Amphetamines and cocaine each make up 2 per cent.
Heroin seizures are "relatively small", he said.
Drugs seized had come from Britain and Holland but there were "a number of connections between Spain and Limerick".
Nationally, there were drugs routes between Limerick and Clare, Dublin, Cork and Northern Ireland.
He said that there would be a 50 per cent increase in staffing levels in the local drugs unit.
Despite the seizures - worth about £3.3 million last year - and the prosecution of 71 dealers, he could not see any reduction in drugs use.
He added: "The figures, if not static, are rising, in my view."
After the conference, Insp John O'Reilly, of Henry Street Garda station, said there were more than 20 heroin addicts in the mid-west region.
"It is an area that needs to be continuously addressed and monitored if it is to be contained," he said.
Mr Brian Neeson, the health promotion officer with the Mid-Western Health Board, emphasised health promotion.
He said that according to a survey of 3,500 secondary school pupils in Limerick and Clare, those who smoked and drank were twice as likely to have used drugs, mainly cannabis.
He said that 19 per cent of the group had used cannabis, including 33 per cent of 17-year-olds.
Some 68 per cent of the group were current drinkers. "Compared to that, the drug use by the rest of the sample palled into some lesser significance."
The review group will be at the Green Isle Hotel, Clondalkin, Dublin, on Monday at 2.30 p.m., in Athlone on Thursday, in Sligo on Friday, and at the Marino Institute of Education, Dublin, on Monday, June 26th.