Groups criticise drugs plan for not going far enough

THE Eastern Health Board's plan for treating drug abuse sufferers is a necessary fire brigade exercise but comes at a time when the fire is out of control, according to the independent TD, Mr Tony Gregory.

The plan was long overdue and would have to deal with "a legacy of neglect" which had left many thousands of addicts in its wake, "probably twice as many as the 8,000 officially admitted".

He criticised what he said was an over reliance on methadone treatment and similar programmes "which just replace one drug with another" and said a long term solution to the problem would require a much broader response.

"Unless there's a dramatic injection of resources into the inner city and all the big estates where unemployment is rampant, plans like this are useless," he warned.

Community Response, a group helping drug abusers and their families in the south inner city, welcomed she measures but also criticised the plan for not going far enough.

"A lot of it is concerned with methadone maintenance programmes, which is all well and good," said its spokesman, Mr Feargal Connolly, "but unless we have a more holistic approach, to include after care and rehabilitation, the plan is doomed to failure." However, he welcomed the measures as "at long last a recognition of the extent of the problem".

Dublin Aids Alliance broadly welcomed the plan, especially its provision for reducing the numbers of drug abusers awaiting treatment. The alliance's executive director, Ms Sharon Oye, stressed the need for continued funding of grassroots projects.

"It is a proven fact that peer led programmes do contribute to prevention, so it is incumbent on the EHB that the voluntary and community groups who have the experience and knowledge of working on the ground should continue to be adequately funded, under this plan or separately."