by Alan Jacques
THE Government has been asked to reverse the financial cuts imposed on organizations working in the fight against drugs in Limerick.
Sinn Féin councillor Maurice Quinlivan claims the Mid West Regional Drugs and Alcohol Forum (MWRDAF), of which he is a director, has taken a 52 per cent cut to its funding since 2008.
And he insists that with the clear increase in drug misuse across Limerick, the reduced funding is no longer sustainable.
The MWRDAF was established under the National Drugs Strategy to research, develop, implement and monitor a co-ordinated response to substance misuse in Clare, Limerick, North Tipperary and Limerick City.
“There has been a rise of almost 25 per cent in the total number of people treated for illegal drug use between 2009 and 2013. These cuts have impacted massively on and prevented delivery of drug and alcohol services that are urgently needed in Limerick and across the entire Mid-West region,” Cllr Quinlivan explained.
He added that the MWRDAF, which funds a number of local projects, is now under sustained pressure due to cuts over the last number of years.
“There is no doubt that the drugs issue in Limerick City has once again worsened. The visible effects are to all too clear with open drug dealing, discarded drug paraphernalia, and the distressing scenes of addicts begging on our city streets.
“Our city needs a local drugs task force. What the government must ensure at a minimum is to stop it’s policy of cuts and ensure that their funding is increased as a priority,” he said.
The City North representative believes that successive governments have not, even in the boom times, devoted anywhere near enough resources to tackle the “blight that drug abuse is”.
“Limerick City has no local drugs task force. We have no detoxification centre. We clearly have a worsening drugs problem. Heroin, excessive use of alcohol and prescription drugs are huge problems across the city. Anecdotal evidence shows there is a clear increase in families being forced to pay criminals for drugs debts incurred by their relatives. For too long, drugs and the devastating effects they have on our communities have not been treated as the priority that it should be”, the Sinn Fein councillor concluded.
