DRUGS TOLL HAUNTS CORONERS' COURTS

Barely a day goes by without a drug-related death at the Dublin City.

Often, there can be four or five drug deaths in a row in one afternoon.
Their stories, although sometimes reported in the media, largely go unnoticed.

It is the hidden, silent world of hard drug use that continues to plague
certain parts of Dublin. The parents, partners and children of the dead sit
in the impressive inquest room which lies beside the Irish Financial
Services Centre, but the families before the inquest tend be far removed
from the buzz of the Celtic Tiger, embodied in the IFSC.

Their faces are often drawn and haggard. Some barely hold their emotions
together as tragic events are recounted in the court.

Many still manage to behave with admirable composure and politeness towards
the court. Indeed, were it not for the assured civility and decency of the
coroner, Dr Brian Farrell, their heartbreaking stories would be unbearable.

Sometimes, even the coroner struggles to find the words to comfort grieving
families. In one such case last year he was faced with the deaths of two
brothers, who had died in the space of three weeks.

The parents of Hugh and Paul Harris, Hugh senior and Eileen, sat quietly
that day in the corner of the courtroom. Both of their sons were long-time
heroin addicts.

Hugh died one night after taking a deadly cocktail of methadone, which is a
substitute for heroin, and two types of tranquillisers, benzodiazepine and
thyridazine. Paul died a few weeks later after consuming several drugs,
including methadone.

Earlier this year, the court heard of the death of a 15-year-old girl who
died from a heroin overdose a month after escaping from a health board
home. Kim O'Donovan, who was just four days from her 16th birthday, was a
newcomer to heroin when she injected a fatal dose in a grim room in a
Dublin B&B in August 2000.

These deaths, although particularly tragic, are a numbing reality, day-in,
day-out, in the Dublin Coroner's Court.

Each time, one or more of the following drugs are involved: heroin,
methadone, benzodiazepines and alcohol.

Detailed research carried out by Ray Byrne of Trinity College Dublin in the
Dublin city and county coroners' courts has documented this silent tragedy.
According to his research, 255 people died from drugs between 1998 and
2000, an average of 85 people a year.

Mr Byrne's study, yet unpublished, shows that the vast majority of victims
had taken a cocktail of drugs.

The research shows that a prescribed tranquilliser, benzodiazepines, was
involved in 70% of the deaths, or 179 people.

Benzos are one of a group of prescribed tranquillisers that users often
take in addition to, or instead of, heroin and methadone. They are commonly
referred to as 'tablets' and are a source of major concern among people
working in the drugs area. Their prescription is currently being
investigated by a Department of Health committee, due to report soon.

Mr Byrne's report shows that 157 deaths (61% of the total) involved heroin
and that methadone was implicated in 144 deaths (56%).

It is thought that at least nine of the heroin deaths in 2000 were caused
by the 'suspect' batch of heroin that claimed a cluster of lives last summer.

The study found that 8% of addicts appeared to have killed themselves,

In one of these cases, a 34-year-old man was found hanging by his
8-year-old son.

He was facing a 5-year prison sentence and was struggling to "get his head
together" for his child's first communion.

In another case, a 21-year-old man had taken methadone, "a load of tablets"
and "a bit of gear [heroin]". The young man had a history of overdose and
suicidal thoughts. He had been barred from the family home, but had left
suicide notes for his parents and brothers.

The report found that one in eight of those who died were either on
temporary release from prison or had been released recently.

Mr Byrne said this was probably caused by a decrease in tolerance to drugs
as a result of less frequent injecting while in jail.

A further six addicts died from drugs taken in prison.

The typical addict was found to be male (89%), single (93%), unemployed
(88%) and in the 15-44 age group (94%). Many had tried and failed to give
up heroin. One in six victims died in a public toilet, public space or street.

The report highlights the stark fact that the vast majority of deaths are
in disadvantaged parts of the city.

Dublin's north inner city had 14% of the deaths, the highest number in the
city.

High death rates were also recorded in the south inner city, the canal
communities, Dun Laoghaire, Dublin 12 (Crumlin and Drimnagh) and Ballyfermot.

Mr Byrne suggests a number of possible practical strategies to help reduce
the fatalities:

* educating drug users in how to help prevent and manage overdoses;

* independent investigation of benzodiazepine prescription;

* alternative treatment for opiates;

* consideration of the prescription of diamorphine, or heroin;

* consideration of 'injecting rooms' for addicts, which may reduce the
number of overdoses and transmission of diseases.

In the meantime, addicts continue to inject and the death toll mounts at
the coroners' courts.