A WARNING that law and order measures to combat crime must be accompanied by treatment and education initiatives has come from bodies dealing with the drug problem in Dublin.
The main voluntary groups working in the area met this week under the auspices of the Dublin City wide Drugs Crisis Steering Committee to consider the situation.
The committee believes a mixture of treatment, education and policing measures is urgently required.
Among the measures it seeks are
. Freezing the assets of drug dealers.
. More investment in disadvantaged areas. "Mass poverty breeds depression, low self esteem, crime and violence," said Mr Finian McGrath, the committee's secretary.
. A multi agency approach to tackle drug dealers, involving the Garda, tax, customs and social welfare officers.
. Services to help addicts give up drugs. Such services are an important part of removing the demand for drugs, Mr McGrath said.
. Deployment of undercover gardai, as was the case in the inner city in the 1980s.
. A well thought out, anti drugs programme in all schools.
The committee is chaired by Mr Fergus McCabe of the Inner City Organisations Network.
Members include Community Response, which operates in the south inner city, a project working with up to 60 drug addicts a day in Kilbarrack, and the Merchant's Quay project.
Mr Tony Geoghegan of the Merchant's Quay Project said freezing the assets of drug dealers would do more to solve the problem than arresting people on the streets. "It's a much more white collar type of crime," he said.
But there had to be a treatment and education response as well, he said. He wondered how much of the money to be made available would go to programmes aimed at treating addicts and preventing people from becoming addicts.
Mr McGrath said he was concerned all the extra money to be made available now would go on law and order responses.
"There are 5,000 addicts in this city and if we don't provide services for these addicts the crisis is going to get worse.
"Our priority is treatment for the addicts, go after the drug barons and educate the kids," he said.