Alcohol and drugs continue to cause widespread harm

The wider impact of substance misuse was laid bare at this month’s meeting of the Monaghan Local Community Safety Partnership at which the co-ordinator of the North Eastern Regional Drugs and Alcohol Task Force (NERDATF) revealed some stark figures.

Andy Ogle stated that Ireland experiences four alcohol-related deaths every day.

He added that one-third of suicides and half of recorded sexual assaults are connected with alcohol or other drug use by perpetrators.

“If these were statistics for road deaths there would be an outcry,” he said.

While acknowledging that more people in Ireland are choosing not to drink, he warned that excessive alcohol consumption remained a serious concern.

“More people in Ireland are not drinking at all, but there are still too many people drinking too much,” he said.

Mr Ogle welcomed the launch of the new National Drugs Strategy, particularly its recognition of training programmes delivered by NERDATF and its focus on young people, as well as those experiencing addiction alongside mental health difficulties.

He called for greater investment in frontline education and support services, housing, family supports, integration, education, training and employment.

“We need to ask what we are doing to ensure people in recovery or still in addiction have their appropriate housing and other needs met,” he said.

He also stressed the importance of providing appropriate health supports for people who come into contact with the criminal justice system because of alcohol or drug use.

“The family role is crucial in encouraging people to access treatment services and remain in treatment, particularly for people going into residential treatment or prison.”

Mr Ogle said recovery needed to be championed and the stigma surrounding addiction reduced.

Residential treatment

Access to residential treatment was raised by councillors during the meeting, with Cllr Noel Keelan (Sinn Féin) highlighting difficulties faced by people with severe drug or alcohol addiction who urgently need residential care.

“I am told there is great difficulty in accessing residential places,” he said.

Mr Ogle explained that services must consider an individual’s motivation, background and recovery journey, including whether community-based treatment has been attempted. Planning is also needed to manage both departures from residential programmes.

Zoe Wells, coordinator of Cavan and Monaghan Drug and Alcohol Awareness Service (CAMDAS) said substantial work often had to be undertaken before a person was ready for residential treatment.

People generally need to engage with community-based services before progressing to residential care, she explained, adding that prospective residents must understand that treatment largely involves group work, alongside some individual support.

Admission requirements also differ between centres, with some requiring people to be free from drugs and alcohol, while others provide detoxification services.

Ms Wells said it was difficult to give accurate waiting-time estimates.

Cllr Niamh McCooey (Sinn Féin) also raised concerns about the range of drugs being used by young people and suggested ketamine use had “skyrocketed”.

However, Ms Wells said CAMDAS was not seeing significant levels of recreational ketamine misuse in Monaghan, although some pockets of use existed.

SAFE GIGS

NERDATF is continuing its work through initiatives including Safe Gigs, which aims to make the night-time economy safer, and engagement with Healthy Club Officers in local GAA clubs.

The task force is also developing a campaign addressing sexual relationships, consent and the influence of alcohol.

Mr Ogle said there were plans to explore a “peer guides” initiative, allowing people with lived experience of addiction to support those beginning their engagement with services.

The organisation is also working on harm-reduction measures to prevent the spread of Hepatitis C and other drug-borne viruses, and believes needle-exchange provision across the region needs to increase.

“We want to do more work with parents, and provide training on the responsible sale of alcohol, particularly in off-licences,” Mr Ogle said, noting that the number of outlets selling alcohol had increased significantly in recent years.

He said further investment in community-based supports was essential to help people access treatment, sustain recovery and reduce the harm caused by drugs and alcohol.

Support Services

Family Addiction Support Network (FASN)

Telephone: 087 904 6405

DRIVE programme

Email: drive@nedrugtaskforce.ie

North Eastern Regional Drugs and Alcohol Task Force

Telephone: 046 924 8630

Email: info@nedrugtaskforce.ie