DOCTORS AND PRISON STAFF TO REPORT ON DRUG ABUSE

FAMILY doctors and prison officers are being recruited by the Department of
Health to report cases of drug abuse they encounter in the course of their
work.

The move is aimed at building a more accurate picture of the nature and
scale of the drug problem across the country.

Figures soon to be released by the Health Research Board show almost 6,000
people are treated for drug abuse each year, but this is known not to be an
accurate indication of the number of addicts that exist.

Most worrying among the new statistics is that teenagers make up a quarter
of all those treated. In this group, the average age is just seventeen and
a half.

Heroin is the biggest scourge with two thirds of those seeking help
reporting heroin as their main addiction, but the most recent figures show
cannabis is a growing problem. Over a fifth of those getting treatment are
trying to kick a cannabis habit.

Another alarming trend is the younger age at which addicts are starting to
experiment with drugs. More than a third said they first used drugs before
they were fifteen, whereas previously about a quarter fell into this
category. A growing number are also injecting drugs -- the figure is now
almost half of all drug users -- and just over a fifth admit to sharing
needles, which accounts for almost 90% of chronic heroin injectors testing
positive for hepatitis C.

The situation was outlined yesterday at a conference on Young People and
Drugs organised by the Eastern Health Board for health care workers,
educators and other adults working with young people.

The EHB's addiction programme manager, Martin Gallagher, unveiled a five
year plan to tackle drug abuse among the board's catchment population of
one million people. The new plan will place greater emphasis on
preventative strategies and long term rehabilitation programmes rather than
simply detox and heroin substitution schemes.

Meanwhile, the Health Research Board is stepping up its activities in
recording and interpreting the drug problem nationwide. Rose Moran of the
HRB said there had been a very positive response from GPs and prison
officers to joining the National Drug Treatment Reporting System. Research
staff are also working on a national survey of attitudes to drugs, a study
of drug use and traffic accidents, an evaluation of mobile clinics and an
examination of drug misuse in rural areas.