Editorial: Drug debt-related intimidation must be tackled head on - Kilkenny Live

There is an urgent need to have a national conversation about the impact of drug use and the arising criminality from the illicit trade, before things get even worse.

Criminals have become more brazen, with even innocents no longer safe from these murderous gangs seeking repayment of debts. In some cases, the pressure extends beyond the individual who owes money to parents, partners and children who have had no part in it.

We hear of families forced to go to financial instutions seeking ‘home improvement’ loans to pay off the drug debts of children and grandchildren. Others, in desperation, turn to unofficial loan sharks and end up in further bother.

As local TD John McGuinness points out in our lead story this week, no community is spared or safe. He describes how, in Kilkenny, cars are vandalised, family homes targeted, and innocent associates attacked in their place of work.

The horror of the recent arson incident in Waterford is surely one of the most insidious forms of criminality in today’s society. Four lives lost, with the funerals taking place this week. It’s rendered all the more horrific by the fact that the family knew the home was under threat, and had requested to move.

We have already seen serious incidents here in Kilkenny where a local representative’s house was attacked and vandalised because they dared to speak out about drug dealing in the city. Cllr Eugene McGuinness was left with broken windows and a damaged vehicle for his stance on crime.

Gardaí have had great success in tackling the major drugs gangs and cartels at a national and international level, bringing major players to justice. Now, the focus must also be at a local level - from the ground up.

Enforcement alone will not solve the problem. As well as a garda crackdown, support services must work together to provide confidential reporting channels, practical protection and clear information about the help available.

These pages recently called for an increase in community gardaí - those on foot or on bikes, visible and on the beat, who know everyone and everything going on in local areas. Communities also need investment in youth services, addiction treatment, mental health supports and credible pathways away from drug dealing.

We also need to consider how drugs are being policed at present. The Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Drugs Use have strongly called for the decriminalisation of personal drug possession. Criminalising these offences may simply create more criminals, puts more money and more power into the hands of the gangs who exploit those at the bottom of the food chain for their nefarious purposes.

Whatever happens next, we cannot continue the way we are going. Lives are at stake, and we cannot abide any more of these tragedies.