HEROIN use in Limerick is at an all-time high.
With almost 200 people being prescribed methadone in the city, it is estimated that for every one person on the heroin substitute, there are another four using the Class A drug.
Rory Keane of the HSE’s Limerick Drug and Alcohol Service says that 238 people are currently attending methadone clinics in the Mid West region. With 172 of those in Limerick, he estimated the number using heroin in the city under 800.
Although the exact figures are hard to come by, it is therefore safe to ‘guesstimate’ that the number of heroin users in the city could be between 700 and 1,000. What is known, however, is that back in 2002, there were only 100 heroin users in the city.
Drug education and prevention worker for the Limerick City Drug Education Prevention Strategy, Daniel Butler, claims the problem is “rampant”. Mr Butler, who is also a Fine Gael councillor for Limerick City West, believes heroin use has escalated in the last five to six years. He also says that the number of young women using the drug in Limerick is on the rise.
“Heroin use in Limerick is rampant and that is not an exaggeration. In the last 18 months in particular it is the worst its been, first of all in supply of heroin, and secondly use. There has been a serious increase. We’re probably seeing it at its worst now than it’s been for the past five or six years, maybe more. There’s been a significant increase,” Mr Butler told the Limerick Post.
“We are seeing at homeless shelters now that the profiles of individuals has changed. The old man street drinker is gone and now those in need of help are much younger. A large percentage of those who are deemed homeless are now in shelters because of drug use. If you need heroin you’ll find it,” he claimed.
Mr Butler insists it’s important to point out that addiction “knows no boundaries” and warns, that while there is socio-economic factors to consider, that people are using heroin in all classes of society.
“I have come across heroin users from all walks of life. I’ve met successful people, high up, maintaining a career, using heroin. Obviously when they’ve come to my attention it’s starting to affect their career but it goes across society.
“There’s not enough of a population in places like Moyross to sustain drug dealers’ business and that’s the reality. So, a lot of the business has to be coming from elsewhere. If you are living in the suburbs you possibly can afford private treatment but this is an issue everywhere,” he maintains.
The local drug prevention and education worker refers to heroin as “the headline drug”, but warns that there’s other drugs more widely abused that are maybe as serious if not more so.
He is confident that there’s a direct link between the increase of heroin use in Limerick and a worrying trend in young people abusing benzodiazepines. ‘Benzos’ or ‘upjohns’, as they are known — includes drugs such as Xanax and Valium and their deadly street versions such as ‘stick’.
“This has become a very serious issue in Limerick. A doctor normally prescribes benzodiazepines, but there’s now a street version known as upjohns that are being widely abused. They are highly addictive and people are taking 10 to 20 of them a day because they’re a fast acting drug.
“This is something that’s come to light in the last 12 months and it’s now believed there is a strong link between people using upjohns and then going on to use heroin. These drugs are so strong that people are hallucinating on them and suffering from extreme disorientation.”
“For the first time, the HSE Limerick Drug and Alcohol Services have a weed-specific group now because the smoking of cannabis has gotten so bad in the city. The levels of THC, which is the chemical that gives you a high from weed, is 23 per cent. To put that into perspective, when The Beatles were making their music the THC levels of what they were smoking was about six per cent. It’s so strong now that it causes hallucinations, so weed is another big issue at the moment,” he says.
As part of his work with DEPS, he supports young people and their families make informed choices towards a healthier lifestyle and promote a sense of community. He also works to prioritise and target prevention interventions on those who are at particular risk of problem drug/alcohol use.
“Most people will turn to a substance that’s external to themselves to do something that they are capable of doing internally. They are reaching out for something. We are living in a society where we learn from a young age that we need something to make us feel better. We go the doctor if we’re sick and it’s ‘give me Calpol’. What we forget is that the body is actually capable of doing all this for us,” he concludes.
Meanwhile, Limerick Sinn Féin councillor Maurice Quinlivan, a community representative on the Mid West Regional Drugs Task Force, also suggests that we have “a worsening drugs problem”. According to Cllr Quinlivan, heroin use, as well as excessive use of alcohol and prescription drugs, are huge problems across the city.
“For too long drugs and the devastating effects they have on our communities, on our kids, their families, and on our city have not been treated as the priority it should,” Cllr Quinlivan commented.
“There is no doubt that the drugs issue in Limerick City has worsened, the visible effects of drugs are to all too clear and can be seen with open drug dealing, discarded drug paraphernalia, with the depressing and distressing scenes of addicts begging on our city streets,” he said.
