DRUG CENTRES IMPROVE JOB PROSPECTS FOR ADDICTS

THREE out of five people attending drug addiction treatment centres run by
the Eastern Health Board are now in full employment.

But the job success rate of those attending larger treatment centres run by
the board in disadvantaged areas is lower because the problems associated
with drug abuse are more complex.

Heroin is the principal drug used by people over the age of 25 in Ireland
and it is currently estimated that there are 13,000 heroin users in Dublin,
Wicklow and Kildare alone.

The EHB has opened 30 new drug treatment locations in the past two years
and now has over 50 treatment locations.

Gardai say the crime rate drops by as much as 25% in areas where the
centres are located. Local communities have also adopted a more positive
approach.

Earlier this month, an independent external review of the EHB's drug
treatment services found that they had developed at a breathtaking rate and
were now among the most innovative in Europe.

This year the EHB will spend almost pounds 25 million on prevention,
treatment and rehabilitation for drug abusers.

Eastern Health Board chairman, Ivor Callely, believes that the authority
cannot afford to relax its fight against the abuse of drugs.

``We are talking about people who were ostracised and are now back in the
community. What's more, the vast majority are holding down jobs,'' he
said.

Isabel Somerville is operations manager of drug addiction services on
Dublin's northside. She said most of people they see are heroin addicts and
the average age is 25. ``There are people as young as 16 misusing drugs,
but they don't see themselves as having a problem and don't present
themselves at an early stage,'' she said.

She noted that an increasing number of people attending treatment centres
were getting jobs once they became stabilised.