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Crack cocaine ‘epidemic’: Tallaght drugs task force hope to avail of new funds
The Tallaght Drug and Alcohol Task Force reportedly closed two projects supporting crack cocaine users
- 07:00, 16 JAN 2022
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A drugs task force in Tallaght is hoping to avail of new funding to help tackle crack cocaine addiction which has blighted the area over the last couple of months.
Crack cocaine is highly addictive and swept the area in the last few months of last year with over 400 people in regular contact with social workers in relation to crack cocaine use.
The Tallaght Drug and Alcohol Task Force reportedly closed two projects supporting crack cocaine users in the Jobstown and Killinarden area on New Year’s Eve.
A report by the task force, that was published last year, found there were at least 100 crack houses in the area were injecting, smoking and manufacturing the drug is occurring. The report also stated that 3,866 crack pipes had been given out by the group.
Now, €850,000 in funding has been made available by the Government to tackle cocaine and crack cocaine issues across the Country.
Fianna Fail TD for the area, and member of the TDATF, John Lahart said the group will be applying for the funding.
He said: “Crack cocaine has changed the pattern of addiction and requires a specific intervention. Tackling this issue has been a key priority of mine since I first got involved in politics and is one which Fianna Fáil has been spearheading since we re-entered Government in 2020.
“I know, as a long-standing board member of the Tallaght Drugs and Alcohol Task Force, that the TDATF will submit the strongest application for a very significant funding allocation from this allocation, which I will support in the full.”
He added: “Strengthening harm reduction responses to the use of cocaine and ‘crack’ cocaine is vital.
“This initiative will contribute to a whole of government response to the social determinants and consequences of drug use in disadvantaged communities and I welcome the HSE’s leadership and commitment to work with relevant stakeholders, including community and voluntary organisations, in developing and delivering this initiative.”
Front line workers dealing with the crack cocaine issue have called it an “epidemic” and a “tsunami” where users cannot go to the post office without going through a “gauntlet” of drug dealers pushing the devastating drug.
In one horrifying anecdote, a female crack addict in recovery was unable to enjoy a cup of coffee on her balcony without drug dealers throwing bags of crack bedside her.
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