Crimes linked to drug abuse have engendered high levels of fear among communities in the Ballyfermot/Cherry Orchard area of Dublin, a survey suggests. The survey was conducted by a group of local people with the help of the Vincentian Partnership for Justice.
Some respondents who agreed to fill in the anonymous survey form later withdrew because "they were afraid that they might be recognised through their responses and action taken against them".
All age groups agreed that closer involvement by parents with their children and more gardai are crucial to combating the drugs problem in the area.
The survey found they wanted tough action on drug pushers, including eviction and prison. For drug abusers who are not pushers they wanted more treatment facilities and rehabilitation.
"The perception that young teenagers want more freedom is not borne out by the results of this survey," says the report. Of 99 schoolgirls surveyed, 28 said families should "know where children are and who they are with, look after children properly and keep them off the street, limit their freedom". Another 23 said parents talking to their children could help them avoid involvement with drugs. Education on the effects of addiction, including talks from former addicts, was seen by more than half of the respondents as a way of preventing drug abuse.
The report concludes that a strategy to tackle the drugs problem should include education in parenting skills, more clubs and youth facilities, more rehabilitation services and more gardai.
On policing, it says there is a need "for young people to be helped to develop a more positive attitude towards the gardai as well as for the gardai to be more active in building social relations with children and young people".
email: pomorain@irish-times.ie
