PARENTS WARNED ABOUT DRUG AFTER TEENAGE DEATH

Parents have been warned to be alert to the dangers of ecstasy, following
the death of a 17-year-old girl. Alison Davis from Bray died last Saturday
after taking an ecstasy tablet. The Minister with responsibility for the
drugs strategy, Mr Eoin Ryan, expressed his sympathy for the Davis family
and said he couldn't imagine the devastation they were going through. "It's
a tragic situation for the family," he said, adding there were very strong
concerns about the widespread availability of drugs such as ecstasy.

"Structures have to be in place all over the country," Mr Ryan said. The
fact that the drug was now cheaper than ever before had also increased its
customer base, he said.

Some teenagers had too much money to spend and that encouraged them to
dabble in drugs, according to Mr John Whyte, spokesman for the National
Parents' Council. "At the moment, some kids have too much money because
they are working much younger now," he said. "That can be a dangerous
thing. Many of them also have access to ATM machines so they can withdraw
money when they want it at night."

Mr Whyte also highlighted the connection between raves and ecstasy. "You
can't have raves without ecstasy. About 90 per cent of parents don't
realise that," he said. "Remember, it's not 'other people's children' who
take drugs."

The last official figure from a European survey on alcohol and drug misuse
showed 9 per cent of Irish teenagers surveyed had experimented with ecstasy
at some stage. That was in 1995. A new figure will be available later this
year and is likely to be significantly higher.

According to Ms Davis's friends, she had only taken one tablet on the night
she died, and it had been the first time she had experimented with the drug.

Speaking on Morning Ireland yesterday, her father, Mr John Davis, said the
family were heartbroken at her death. He pointed to the role of drug
dealers in her death, and said if she had not been given the tablet she
would still be alive. "My only hope is that something good will come out of
this," he said.