William Cotter
Question:124 Mr. Cotter asked the Minister for Health if his Department have any plans to carry out research to establish the extent of drug abuse among teenagers; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Teenage Drug Abuse.
A considerable amount of research has been and continues to be conducted into drug misuse among teenagers. This consists of both ongoing collection of data and individual research projects. As regards the former, my Department has established a National Drug Misuse Reporting System which includes data regarding teenagers. This is operated by the Health Research Board and collects data from treatment sources, from the Garda crime report statistics on persons charged with drug offences and seizures of illicit drugs, from the Customs and Excise Service, from Hepatitis B data and from methadone consumption. The Reporting System has been in operation since 1989 and had been concentrating on gathering Data from the Dublin area. In line with the recommendations of the Government Strategy to Prevent Drug Misuse, my Department has allocated funding to the Health Research Board to extend the operation of the System to the rest of the country.
In this context, the process to collect comprehensive data in respect of drug misuse in the Southern Health Board area has commenced and data based on Hepatitis B, which is an indicator of drug misuse, from all health boards.