Prevention programmes have resulted in an 80 per cent decrease in heroin addiction since 1996 in Dublin. Nuala Macklin reports
Since the introduction of the National Drugs Strategy in 2001, there is evidence which shows a dramatic decline in the use of heroin in Dublin among the under-18 age group.
From a peak in 1997, the number of people under the age of 18 who are accessing heroin addiction treatment in Dublin today has dropped by almost 80 per cent.
According to Dr Bobby Smyth, consultant psychiatrist with the South Western Health Board, "The most recent study conducted in 2001 and only published in the last few months estimated that a total of 12,500 were dependent on heroin in Dublin which represented a drop of 1,000 since 1997."
The prevalence of the drug heroin in Dublin was at its highest in the 1990s with a community of users at its peak estimated at 13,500.
Since that time, on the basis of the number of people presenting for treatment, there is a substantial drop in heroin abuse figures for 15-24 year-old males. This group is considered to be most at risk of developing an opiate addiction. "This is a prevention success story as opposed to a treatment success story, as fewer people are currently developing a heroin addiction problem," he said.
He noted: "A heroin addict can spend up to €100 a day on average. Although not exclusively, the majority of people who become dependent on heroin come from deprived backgrounds. As they don't generally have the ability to earn that sort of money legitimately, they frequently resort to crime to obtain it, i.e. shoplifting, crime against the person or sometimes violent crime such as robbery etc."
He pointed out that the director of Mountjoy Prison, Mr John Lonergan, had highlighted that at least 50 per cent of the people admitted to the prison was as a result of their acquisitive crime in order to fund their drug habits.
"The problem is very much centred in Dublin but there is evidence that it is beginning to occur in other locations around the country," Dr Smyth added.
Following the growth of the heroin problem throughout the 1990s, €150 million was allocated to the National Drugs Initiative in 2001.
Of that figure, €97 million went to Department of Justice (customs, law enforcement and prison services), €25 million was allocated to the Department of Health & Children towards treatment and prevention programmes, and the balance was directed to other Departments.
Investment in local communities resulted in them taking the lead in delivering prevention and treatment programmes in their own areas. Local drug task forces were established where permanent addiction was prevalent. Also, education officers conducted prevention programmes by going into schools where young people were considered to be at a high risk of developing drug problems.
In general, schools have invested and delivered substantial prevention programmes which encourage students to live healthy lifestyles. Other community initiatives have included support programmes for one-parent families and children of drug users.
According to Dr Smyth, one of the most successful aspects of the National Drugs Strategy has been in tackling the problem of early school leaving.
"The average age of young people becoming addicted to heroin has been 14 and almost without exception these would 'drift' away from school early. Certain schools were given additional funding, but with an increased expectation that they retain increased numbers of children in education beyond or at least to the Junior Cert level.
"These schools are now much more pro-active in terms of supporting children where school attendance is dropping. Family participation has been an important part of the success of the initiative."
He said that in 1996/7 where there was one person under the age of 18 presenting every second day seeking treatment for drug abuse, numbers had dropped off dramatically and are now closer to one young person a month in Dublin. "We are not seeing a large number of youngsters presenting with that sort of catastrophic addiction to other substances."
He concluded: "While there is evidence of an increase in the use of cocaine in general, and in the drug-using community where there is a slight growth in the use of this opiate, it's not anything like the numbers that would compensate for the decline in heroin use and addiction."