Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 13 Dec 1995

Vol. 459 No. 7

Adjournment Debate. - Drug Abuse.

Miss Quill

Thank you for allowing me to raise this topic this evening and the Minister for Health for coming in to reply.

There is no need for me to impress on the Minister that we have a deepening crisis resulting from drug abuse, in circumstances in which an ever increasing percentage of our youth has been or will be caught up in the drugs culture.

While this Government has introduced a welcome range of stronger measures aimed at curbing the illegal activities of drug importers and pushers, prevention always must be our main objective and can best be achieved through stronger security measures and systematic education programmes, a recipe that has proved successful in other countries. Sweden has definite proof that properly designed, delivered and resourced education programmes can and are making a difference.

However, the damaged health of the victims of drug addiction — the specific aspect of the drugs problem I want to raise this evening — presents us with a different set of challenges altogether. To reverse that damage will prove extremely difficult as the problems involved in drug addiction are very complex. To date we do not have precise information on the extent of the damage being done to young people's health through taking different types of drugs.

A recent survey undertaken in the Dublin region showed a 47 per cent increase in first-time, young psychotic admissions to public beds in St. John of God's Hospital between February and November last, a shocking statistic. That increase in admissions was attributed directly to the use of cannabis, magic mushrooms and ecstasy and that assertion is verified by a well respected clinical director of the Clúain Mhuire Centre who has established a direct and definite link between such admissions and drug abuse.

This demonstrates to me that the damage done is much deeper and of longer duration than I had hitherto realised. It also confirms the necessity for the Minister to tackle the matter urgently, and to put in place a much more comprehensive range of services to meet the needs of drug addicts who present themselves for rehabilitation. Adult psychiatric hospitals are not the most appropriate for the placement of youngsters.

Irrespective of the psychiatric problems we all know that some young people having undergone intensive, initial treatment, later, for the want of proper after care and support services, lapse back into drug taking. Will the Minister have his Department undertake a detailed assessment of the needs of young drug addicts, not only in the greater Dublin area but nationwide, so that we can establish precisely what are their needs and be in a better position to plan their rehabilitation and invest proper resources in community services for that purpose?

Will the Minister have his Department initiate clinical tests to establish the precise effects of ecstacy on mental and physical health. Ecstacy is not used in medicine here. For that reason we do not know precisely the damage it does to young people's physical or mental health. The first evidence we have of psychiatric or psychotic damage emanated from the report to which I referred. Will the Minister address both those issues as a matter of urgency?

Minister for Health (Mr. Noonan

, Limerick East): I thank Deputy Quill for raising this topic. Recent media reports on this matter have suggested there has been a general increase of 47 per cent in the number of young, first time psychotic admissions to all public psychiatric hospitals — that is, persons aged 30 years or under with a diagnosis of chronic psychosis on admission. This figure relates to first time admissions of such patients to public patient beds at St. John of God private psychiatric hospital, Stillorgan, not to all psychiatric hospitals as suggested. The Eastern Health Board subvents 37 beds at the St. John of God hospital for the treatment of public patients with mental illness from the south-eastern area of Dublin-Dún Laoghaire.

An average of 25 such admissions are made every year during the period January to December, approximately 19 of which are in the months February to November inclusive. During this ten months period in the current year the number of admissions increased from 19 to 28, an increase of approximately nine patients. The actual increase was nine patients over ten months but, of course, that is 47 per cent on a base of 19. It is not as dramatic a story to say nine patients over ten months as to mention a 47 per cent increase in a newspaper headline which magnifies the issue.

Miss Quill

It would be enough to cause concern.

Mr. Noonan

(Limerick East): I am not trying to play down the issue, I simply want to put the facts on the record.

I am aware that the number of young people who are misusing drugs is increasing, and that is a cause of concern.

The report of the Health Research Board for 1994 on Treated Drug Misuse in the Dublin area profiles the type of people who are typically misusing drugs. The main findings of this report are as follows: the number of persons presenting for treatment for the first time has increased by 34 per cent since 1993; almost 80 per cent of those in treatment were male; over 80 per cent were unemployed; 60 per cent had left school with a minimum education; 92 per cent of those in treatment were in the 15 to 39 age bracket; and 27 per cent of those receiving treatment lived in the north or south inner city areas.

Since 1992 special funding has been allocated each year to allow for the development of extensive prevention and treatment services by all health boards and particularly the Eastern Health Board, which is responsible in the first instance for the provision of services for drug misusers in the greater Dublin area where the majority of drug misusers reside. With the Drug Treatment Centre in Pearse Street and voluntary organisations, the board is proceeding with the provision of additional facilities to cope with the demand for treatment. Its plan includes the establishment of additional community drug treatment centres which will provide a range of treatment and counselling services, depending on the service needs in each area. All other health boards are strengthening the co-ordination and implementation structures at regional and local level to address drug misuse so that they may be in a position to tackle whatever drug problems emerge in the future.

An important component of health board services is the outreach service where addiction counsellors seek out young people experimenting with drugs who are at risk of becoming drug misusers. This early intervention can often prevent young people misusing drugs, since it offers them support and help and offers their families and friends similar support when necessary.

While the health boards' response will help a number of young people who have drug misuse problems, it will not address the underlying problems linked with socio-demographic factors, which will need a much more integrated wide-ranging response on the part of a number of agencies.

An important element in the fight against drugs is education and primary prevention. My Department, in conjunction with the Department of Education, has developed a substance abuse prevention programme for second level schools. The programme has been implemented in approximately 50 per cent of schools and training of teachers is ongoing to introduce it to the remainder of schools. Plans are also in progress to develop a programme for primary schools during 1996.

My Department's health promotion unit also continues to work with health boards and other agencies, voluntary and statutory, in the development of programmes and training modules for schools, youth clubs, health professionals, parents and groups who deal with young people. The unit provides a wide range of educational material on drugs through its public office in my Department. It is also preparing to launch a media campaign in the new year to complement the existing drug prevention programmes.

I assure the Deputy that the prevention of drug misuse is high on my agenda. My Department will be working closely with all the agencies who have a role in prevention and in the provision of treatment and rehabilitation services, to reduce the overall number of young people turning to drugs and to provide the appropriate services for those who require treatment and counselling.