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Is ****** ******** the new *******?

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There has been an 80% increase in women reporting problematic ****** ******** use

Dublin is in the midst of a ****** ******** crisis, according to the city’s ***** counsellors.

The number of people seeking treatment for the use of the ***** in the Republic of Ireland increased by 594% from 173 cases in 2017 to 1,201 in 2023,

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One user said he came to the city in his 20s where he became an *******.

“I kind of slipped from maybe taking a few beers, to taking a couple of ecstasy, to taking some other stuff, and then I ended up on ******* and ****** ********,” said Ferghal Connolly.

‘Communities on their knees’

Daithi Doolan said the current ****** ******** problem is a crisis

****** is the street name given to a solid form of ******** that is usually smoked.

Daithi Doolan, from the South Inner City ***** and Alcohol Partnership, said many homes in Dublin had some form of addiction.

“It’s actually a crisis,” he added.

“It’s happening at the school gate in the playground.”

Doolan, who is also a Sinn Féin councillor, said communities cannot cope with the scale of ***** use.

“The *****-related intimidation is affecting individuals, families and whole communities are being held to ransom by the ***** dealers.”

‘Drugs are all around’

In previous decades, Dublin had been battling ******* in inner city communities.

Those at the frontline of addiction say a ******* shortage, due to geopolitical changes in Afghanistan, has sparked an increase of ****** ******** use.

In 2023, 4,923 people sought ***** treatment with ********, in its powder or ****** form, as the main problem.

Cheryl Kelly said women need separate services because of their complex needs

Cheryl Kelly, an addiction counsellor in the Donore Community ***** and Alcohol Team, said women need separate services from men for their “complex” needs.

“Women would find themselves in situations where they may be engaging in forced **** work, or they might be afraid of social services, and the women face an awful lot of shame and stigma in and around their ***** use,” she said.

The HRB statistics showed an increase in females seeking treatment for ******** use from 284 cases in 2017 to 1,387 in 2023.

Where ****** ******** was the main problem, nearly half were female, just over one in 20 were employed and the median age was 39.

‘A need for female-only spaces’

Ms Kelly said setting up a dedicated scheme for women was important.

“They face an awful lot of shame and stigma because they’re nurturing and minding their children, their family or whoever it may be.

“It was very important for me to engage or to help in our community drugs and alcohol team to set up the pilot programme for women.

“Women won’t engage in services if they feel like the man that’s been intimidating them down at a shop on Friday is also going to be in the same service seeking support, so there is definitely a need for female-only spaces where women can feel safe.”

‘No border that defines addiction’

Alan Kinsella said his programme has had consistent full numbers

Alan Kinsella, a case worker in the city centre’s Coolmine Therapeutic community, said: “We have a specific programme which is aimed to work with people who are using ********, both powder ******** and ****** ********; it has consistently had full numbers,” he said.

“When a programme which is so specific to a ***** which is busy and full, it kind of tells the story of the scope of what ******** is like, particularly in Dublin city centre.”

Alan said there is no social border that defines ******** addiction.

“We see people presented with ******** as an issue from all walks of life, and people who have jobs – there is no kind of differentiation between the people that we see and the ***** that they’re using.”

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#****** #******** #*******

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