Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 1 December 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health

Substance Misuse and its Impact on Communities: Discussion

Mr. Shane Hamilton:

As was mentioned, there is a severe need for the safety and protection of vulnerable communities against intimidation. I return to the core message of the drugs strategy, which still holds firm. It is a health-led approach. Criminal justice will be part of that conversation, as will protecting the most vulnerable. From a front-line perspective, individuals may have been evicted due to antisocial issues when it was actually coercive control, perhaps a domestic issue or someone else having been forced into distributing substances out of intimidation. We will have to ensure that is at the forefront of any conversation in order that all definitions of a vulnerable individual will be protected and we will have a safe and destigmatised conversation.

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