John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

An increasing number of people are presenting to the drugs services with a variety of problems associated with addiction. These include mental illness, homelessness and literacy problems. Addiction is just the tip of the iceberg. People's issues are becoming ever more complex and heroin is becoming increasingly prominent. This, in turn, increases the complexity of the service user's problems. We must not respond to this problem with but one solution. Each person's issues are different and one service will not fit all. Cuts to the rolling out of education and awareness campaigns at local level are certainly not the answer, nor is cutting the funding of front line services. Harm reduction, education and needle exchange are all aspects of the community services that are having their funding hacked away bit by bit.

The national drugs strategy, developed through the voluntary, community and statutory agencies and drafted by the regional task forces, is wholly inadequate in dealing with the constant and evolving nature of drug addiction. The current strategy spans the period 2009 to 2016, as the Minister of State knows, yet drug workers on the ground, with whom I am familiar in my constituency, will tell one the emergence of new substances, prescription medication misuse and the purchasing of drugs on the Internet make the nature of the drug availability problem change monthly, never mind yearly. Workers on the ground have to respond to a strategy that is completely out of date and out of touch.

I recommend to the Government that it review the drugs strategy at least every two years, and certainly not in six, as envisaged, if we are to have any hope of keeping up with the changing problem of addiction. The national strategy promotes a partnership approach between the community, voluntary and statutory services. However, from what I hear, community service has evolved very much into a top-down model. The partnership approach is eroding and community services are receiving directions increasingly from their funders on how to approach their work, without any consultation with the service users.

The Government should put in place a service users' forum, which has been called for by many community groups. The forum would listen to service users and inform policy on their needs. We cannot continue with our current approach of telling users what they require. Clearly, this method failed bitterly down through the years.

The most notable increase pertains to heroin addiction. We must tackle the issue of people spending many years on methadone. Theoretically, a heroin user is put on methadone and then receives counselling and support as the dosage is reduced over a period. Many of us are aware of numerous cases in which a user has been on the same dose year after year simply because other services are not in place for him. This is ridiculous and does nothing to solve the heroin abuse problem.

Can the Minister of State shed any light on the reluctance of general practitioners, including some in my constituency, to engage in a partnership approach with the community drugs services in respect of prescribing methadone and offering community-based detoxification? Surely this is a denial of basic human rights. From having spoken to people in my constituency this morning, I noted there are 40 to 50 people on the waiting list for methadone treatment in Waterford. Irrespective of what the official figures imply, we know there are doctors from Dublin travelling to Waterford to prescribe methadone although a joined-up approach with local general practitioners would reduce the waiting list considerably.

Given the intense intimidation of drug users' families, the Government must put in place a national response. I constantly encounter cases of dealers knocking on the doors of drug users' families, burning their homes and threatening them. Many families are told to pay or face further intimidation. Paying is easier in the long run, as the families have no supports. The State needs to get its act together and put a strategy in place for them. For example, it should help overcome the difficulties involved in relocating.

According to the UN, illegal drugs comprise 8% of the world's trade. There are more than 250 million drug users. Drugs will always be with us. We have tried prohibition, but that approach has not worked. The demand for services has never been greater, crime is increasing, customs hauls are on the rise and the intimidation of drug users' families is reaching epidemic proportions. We need to re-evaluate our response to addiction and examine the problem rationally on a moral value basis instead of deciding what is right and wrong. It is time for a logical debate on the reclassification, decriminalisation and regulation of certain illegal substances. We must consider some European models, for example, those found in Portugal and the Netherlands. Portugal decriminalised drug use for personal consumption in 2001, after which drug use among 13-18 year olds declined significantly.

I am not advocating that we legalise drugs, but we need a non-sensational, pragmatic and reasonable debate on the issue. It is not mentally or physically possible for the majority of heroin users to work. Many are impervious to treatment because they have suffered neurological damage. Jailing them and throwing away the key will not work. The figure of 10,000 is increasing.

Prevention and law enforcement are not working and the public perception is that the drug barons are winning. People do not want to discuss the prescription of heroin or the treatment of drug addiction as a chronic health issue. There are many examples of the methadone treatment programme not working.

I would like to continue speaking, but I do not want to take up Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan's time. I apologise to her for taking a minute of her time.

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