DRUGS AND HOMELESSNESS

Sir, - Two headlines in your editions of May 31st had a bearing on our work
in TRUST: "Minister must help the professionals to combat smoking" and
"Homeless people suffer higher drug abuse level".

At a time when as yet no accurate data is available on the numbers of recent
drug-related deaths and where an increasing number of people known to our
service have died on the streets without publicity, we are challenged again
to look at the amount of resources available for some projects seen as
useful and progressive while the most basic services are denied to many.

Two men called to us on the morning of May 16th for the first time. Both
were later escorted in a taxi to hospital. One died 36 hours later, the
other man is still hospitalised. Both slept out for long periods and one got
an emergency bed from time to time.

Anyone working on the ground needs no more research to know that
homelessness is a complex problem and those who are addicted are more likely
to be in that number. Drugs, including cigarettes and alcohol, ease the pain
of living in today's world. Basic services for this group of people are now
almost non-existent. Some services have been shut down recently without
discussion or consultation with service providers. Some that traditionally
had spaces for such people now feel the need to work with those likely to
resettle, in order to avail of funding. What is more basic than washing
facilities, clothes, food and a bed? Without these, counselling, research,
outreach, data collection, seminars etc. are of questionable use to the
people I refer to.

Can we now envisage people who are homeless being denied a service because
they smoke? Is smoking any more dangerous than the massive doses of
prescribed drugs given to people on a daily basis to ease the pain of living
- - living in the open and likely to die unnoticed in the open if the present
trend continues.

Yours, etc.,

Alice Leahy RGN RM FFN RCSI (Hon), Director and CoFounder, TRUST, Bride
Road, Dublin 8.