asked the Minister for Health the number of drug treatment centres in each health board area; the number of patients treated for drug abuse and addiction for each year from 1965-66 to the latest available date; and if he will list those drugs most commonly abused in Irish society.
Written Answers. - Drug Abuse.
263.
A national residential drug treatment centre has recently been opened at Jervis Street Hospital, Dublin, to cater for young drug casualties. A national advisory centre also operates at this hospital. The Eastern Health Board provide residential services in a unit at the Central Mental Hospital, Dundrum, for drug abusers who cannot be treated in an open unit. While there are not special treatment centres in other areas persons suffering from addiction are treated within the ambit of the general psychiatric services both on an in-patient and out-patient basis at the psychiatric hospitals.
In regard to the numbers of patients treated for drug abuse and addiction there is an arrangement under which cases of addiction coming to the notice of the services already mentioned are recorded. The numbers of new cases notified for the years 1970 to date are as follows: 1970, 159: 1971, 268: 1972, 252; 1973, 160; 1974, 130; 1975 (to end September), 84.
I regret that this information is not available for the years 1965 to 1969.
Apart from alcohol the recent records show that the drugs most commonly abused in this country are barbiturates, cannabis, heroin and morphine.
264.
asked the Minister for Health the number of international drug symposia at which his Department were represented since 1965; and the number and names of the countries with which his Department conferred prior to the drafting of the Misuse of Drugs Bill, 1973.
It is presumed that the question relates to international symposia, meetings and so on, on various aspects of drug abuse in the context of the Misuse of Drugs Bill. Since 1969 the Department have been represented at 25 such meetings.
The phenomenon of drug abuse in western Europe began to manifest itself as a serious problem in the late 'sixties and hence there were no international symposia or conferences dealing specially with the problem in that context held prior to 1969. The Department of course maintained the closest contact with international organisations concerned with the control of illicit traffic in drugs.
With regard to the second part of the question the main provisions of the Misuse of Drugs Bill are based on experience of the working of the Dangerous Drugs Act, 1934 and later controls for the prevention of drug abuse and illicit traffic. The Bill takes account of the recommendations and conclusions of various expert bodies both here and abroad on various aspects of the problem and is designed to enable this country to conform to and ratify the UN international conventions on narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
The preparation of the Bill did not involve any direct consultation with the Governments of other countries although certain aspects of it were the subject of informal contact between officers of the Department and of the United Kingdom Home Office.