Op-Ed: More resources required for heroin and opioid users in Kilkenny and across Ireland

It’s about time we all gave careful consideration to the issue of drug use in Ireland because right now, we are at a hugely significant crossroads.

As you may know, a Citizens’ Assembly has been established to consider the legislative, policy and operational changes Ireland could make to significantly reduce the harmful impacts of illicit drugs on individuals, families and communities.

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This is the time when we all need to be honest with ourselves about the impact of drugs and how they are currently legislated — as a society, as policymakers, as legislators.

With that said, this column is not going to argue for the legalisation of certain drugs, or comment on how the law should be enforced on dealers.

We will all have differing opinions on these aspects of the debate and the best thing we can all do as a society is get further educated on the issues at hand.

What this column will advocate for, however, is more compassion and resources for heroin and opioid users.

Last Sunday, the Assembly was told of a 24-year-old mother of one who died of an overdose after becoming homeless due to a lack of methadone services in her local area.

Stories like these serve as wake-up calls that the country needs to get its act together.

How many more wake-up calls do we need? How many more lives will be lost before we change our failed approach?

The figures that have been presented to the Assembly have shown a sustained rise in drug overdose deaths in Ireland.

There were 409 poisoning deaths linked to drugs in Ireland in 2020. Compare this to 2016, when 314 deaths linked to drugs were recorded.

Opioids were involved in seven out of ten of the deaths, and heroin was involved in one out of five.

Heroin and opioid users in particular need to see more compassion and empathy.

At present, these human beings are herded into the dark corners of society, out of sight, out of mind.

I firmly believe that people who use syringes to take drugs should have a safe place where they can discard their sharps.

Little designated, sealed disposal bins in areas where drug use is known to take place is hardly a crazy thought.

If this suggestion upsets you, I’d like to know why.

I doubt you’d rather see somebody get poked by a sharp while out walking some morning — all for the sake of keeping up appearances and pretending we don’t have a problem.

Anyway, if you didn’t like that last suggestion, you really won’t like this next one.

I firmly believe there is a place in society for supervised injection centres - clean, safe, healthcare environments where people can inject drugs, obtained elsewhere, under the supervision of trained health professionals.

These centres can offer a compassionate, person-centred service which reduces the harms associated with injecting drug use and can help people access appropriate services.

They can also help health service staff to reach and support vulnerable and marginalised people who often do not, cannot or no longer engage with existing health services.

The provision of these centres in urban areas could lead to an eventual pathway out of an addiction for some users, rather than an unsupervised overdose.

It’s not like it’s a revolutionary new idea either. There is substantial evidence worldwide that such centres reduce public injecting, reduce discarded drug litter, and, most importantly, save lives.

At the end of the day, the points raised in this column are just some minor aspects of the larger conversation that is happening in relation to drug use in Ireland at present.

The Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use will undoubtedly make an invaluable and informed contribution to government on possible future approaches to drugs use in Ireland.

I ask that our policymakers carefully consider all of the feedback from the Assembly and use it to make our drug laws more effective.

You never know, there could even be huge change off the back of all this. If this the case, it goes without saying that we should all be as informed as possible.

To be quite frank, we should all be as informed as possible no matter the outcome.

Drug use affects everyone, even those who don’t take drugs.