Q. What is the National
Drugs Strategy?
A. Ireland's National Drugs Strategy 2001-2008 'Building
on Experience’ was developed with the co-operation and input
of various state agencies and voluntary and community groups
working in drug-affected areas throughout the country. Some
of these state agencies include Health Service Executive
(HSE) Areas, the Gardai, Vocational Educational Committees,
the prison service, local authorities and Government departments.
All contributors to the strategy were asked to identify
any gaps that they saw in the Government response to the
drug problem and make suggestions and recommendations for
the formulation of an improved strategy. The Department
of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs has overall responsibility
for the management of the National Drugs Strategy in Ireland,
but there are a number of other Government departments and
state bodies involved in its operation. Four areas were
pinpointed in the Strategy as being "crucial"
in any attempt to address the problem:
- Reduction in the supply of drugs
- Prevention of drug use (including education and awareness)
- Drug treatment (including rehabilitation and risk reduction)
- Research
Reduction in the supply of drugs
The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform has the
primary role in trying to reduce the volume of illegal drugs
on the streets. The Department works with and co-ordinates
the efforts of the Gardai, the courts, the prisons service,
and the Probation and Welfare services in the fight against
drugs. This Department is also responsible for legislating
to inhibit the supply of drugs. Both the Irish Naval Services
and the Customs and Excise section of the Revenue Commissioners
are also heavily involved in trying to stop drugs trafficking.
Prevention of drug use (including education and awareness)
By raising awareness of the dangers of drug misuse and educating
people as to its possible effects, the Government hopes
to reduce the demand for drugs in Ireland. There are a number
of Government departments involved in these preventative
measures. The Health Promotion Unit of the Department of
Health and Children advises local Health Service Executive
(HSE) Areas on drug abuse prevention policies and provides
funding for these policies. The Department of Education
and Science is heavily involved in running awareness and
education programmes in schools throughout the country to
communicate the dangers of drug misuse to children and young
people. The Gardai and the Local Drugs Task Forces are also
involved in raising awareness of the drug problem though
their education programmes for schools and communities.
Drug treatment (including rehabilitation and risk
reduction)
Drug treatment and rehabilitation services are primarily
operated by the Health Service Executive (HSE) Areas under
the guidance of the Department of Health and Children. These
treatments include addiction counselling, detoxification
programmes and methadone treatment programmes. Because of
the serious nature of the drug problem in prisons, the prison
services are also heavily involved in treatment and rehabilitation
of drug abusers. Their aim is to provide the same standard
of care for drug abusers in a prison setting that is available
from the HSE Areas in the community. FÁS operates a number
of programmes aimed at helping reformed drug users get back
into the workforce and the Voluntary Drugs Treatment Network
offers a forum for community and voluntary drug groups to
share information and co-ordinate their services.
Drug Treatment Court
In 2001 a Drug Treatment Court was set up (on a pilot basis),
in north Dublin to deal specifically with drug-related crime.
In February 2006 the Courts Service announced that the Drugs
Treatment Court is to be put on a permanent footing and
plans for it to be extended on a staged basis across Dublin
city. The Court, which has operated on a limited basis for
the last number of years, has had a major and long lasting
effect on the quality of life of many of its participants.
The court uses a multi-disciplinary approach to help those
before it to tackle the cause of their criminal behaviour.
That is, drug addiction. The team consists of a Judge, Probation
and Welfare Officer, an addiction nurse, a Garda liaison
officer, an education/ training representative and access
to other professional as needed. The Drug Treatment Court
program is not suitable for everyone. It is a tough and
difficult set of tasks and self examination over a long
period of time. For those who do continue and graduate from
the program it has proven a very rewarding experience.
Research
The National Advisory Committee on Drugs (NACD) is responsible
for analysing all available research and drugs information
and advising the government on drugs policy issues based
on their findings. The Government will also use information
provided by the Drug Misuse Research Division of the Health
Research Board. This unit is responsible for operating the
National Drug Treatment Reporting System, the main source
of drug use information in Ireland. [Top]
Q. What is the Local Drugs Task
Force?
A. The Government set up the Local Drugs Task Forces in
response to the worsening situation in areas that were already
hard hit by drug misuse. In all, 14 task forces were established,
most concentrating on the Dublin area: Ballyfermot, Ballymun,
Blanchardstown, the Canal Communities, Clondalkin, Dublin
North Inner City; Dublin South Inner City, Dublin 12, Dun
Laoghaire/Rathdown, Finglas-Cabra, Cork City, North East
Dublin, Tallaght and Bray. It was hoped that the task forces
would help the Government to respond more effectively to
the drug situation in these areas and would also allow members
of those affected communities a chance to get involved in
the fight against drugs. Members of community and voluntary
groups and elected officials were asked to work with Government
agencies in coming up with new and more effective programmes
of education, awareness, prevention and treatment. The task
forces were asked to prepare action plans for their area,
which would co-ordinate the drugs services that already
existed and would identify and eventually fill in any gaps
in the services. To date, over 200 projects have received
funding from the Government. These projects range from support
centres and rehabilitation programmes for drug users and
their families to drugs awareness training. After positive
independent evaluation of the achievements of the task forces,
over half these projects have now been guaranteed continued
funding from the Government. [Top]
Q. What is the Regional
Drugs Task Force?
A. The success of the Local Drugs Task Forces has led to
a recommendation in the National Drugs Strategy that Regional
Drugs Task Forces be established in each of the current
regional Health Service Executive (HSE) Areas, including
each of the three that make up the HSE (Eastern) Area. These
new task forces will replace the existing Regional Drug
Co-ordinating Committees but will further develop their
responsibilities. As with the local task forces, the regional
task forces will be made up of community and voluntary groups
and those working for Government agencies. This will allow
the task forces to co-ordinate their response to the drug
problems in their regions. The regional task forces will
be asked to put together regional plans to combat drug misuse
and to analyse and identify gaps that exist in the drugs
services at the moment. It is planned to convene the first
meeting of each task force by the end of March 2003. [Top]
Q. What do the National
Drugs Strategy Team do?
A. The National Drugs Strategy Team (NDST) is responsible
for the monitoring and overall management of the local drugs
task forces. It acts as a liaison between these task forces
and the Government and makes policy recommendations to the
Inter-Departmental Group on the National Drugs Strategy
based on the observations and experiences of those working
on the task forces. The NDST also reviews the need for local
drugs task forces in areas particularly affected by drug
abuse, e.g., areas badly affected by heroin use. As well
as overseeing the operation of the local task forces, the
NDST is responsible for the establishment of Regional Drugs
Task Forces. When this happens, the NDST will have to evaluate
any action plans drawn up by a regional task force (as it
currently does with all local task forces) and make funding
recommendations to the Inter-Departmental Group. The NDST
must be kept aware of any initiatives or programmes that
may be set up to tackle the drugs issue and that would affect
the areas covered by the both the local and regional drugs
task forces. The NDST is made up of representatives from
Government departments and agencies working in the drugs
area and members from both the voluntary and the community
sectors. [Top]
Q. What is the National
Advisory Committee on Drugs
A. The National Advisory Committee on Drugs (NACD) was set
up in 2000 to advise the Government on the most effective
ways of handling the drug use situation in Ireland based
on an analysis of the available information and research.
The committee is made up of representatives from Government
departments, community and voluntary groups who work with
those affected by drug misuse and people from academic or
research backgrounds. To date, the NACD has produced an
official report called "Drug Use Prevention: an overview
of research", which analyses drug misuse in Ireland
and makes recommendations to the Government about how it
should respond. The Committee also manages a three-year
programme that aims to fill in the gaps in our knowledge
about drug misuse in this country. The programme involves
developing an inventory of existing information and research
on drug misuse and improving the co-ordination of research
and information-gathering. It also involves gathering information
on drug use in Ireland, analysing the effectiveness of current
prevention and treatment methods and trying to establish
the human cost of drug abuse in Ireland. In September 2002,
the NACD launched a community and voluntary research grants
scheme to generate innovative community-based drugs research.
As a result, a number of community groups are currently
working on research projects in their local drugs task force
areas. [Top]
Q. Who monitors the implementation
of the National Drugs Strategy?
A. The Inter-Departmental Group on the National Drugs Strategy
is involved in monitoring the implementation of the National
Drugs Strategy. It does this in conjunction with the National
Drugs Strategy Team. The two groups are also responsible
for reviewing the Government's policy on drugs and making
recommendations to the Cabinet Committee on Social Inclusion.
The Inter-Departmental Group on the National Drugs Strategy
is made up of representatives from relevant Government departments:
[Top]
Q. What is the role of the
Cabinet Committee on Social Inclusion
A. The Cabinet Committee on Social Inclusion was set up
in 1997. It is chaired by the Taoiseach and is made up of
the Tanaiste and Ministers from the following departments:
- The Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism
- The Department of Education and Science
- The Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government
- The Department of Health and Children
- The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform
- The Department of Social and Family Affairs
- The Minister for Housing and Urban Renewal at the Department
of the Environment and Local Government
- The Minister of State for Local Development (with special
responsibility for the National Drugs Strategy)
- The Minister of State for Children
- The Minister of State for Rural Development
- The Attorney General.
The Inter-Departmental Group keeps the Committee regularly
briefed on the implementation of the National Drugs Strategy.
The meetings provide an opportunity to review trends in
drug misuse and also in the treatment and prevention of
drug misuse. The Committee also assesses the progress of
the various strategies and programmes that have been put
in place at national and local level to combat the drug
problem.
If there are policy and organisational issues that prevent
a swift response to the drugs problem, the Committee will
try to resolve them as quickly and effectively as possible.
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