SENIOR GARDA CLAIMS DRUGS AVAILABLE IN EVERY TOWN

Drugs such as ecstasy are available in every town and village in the State
and attitudes to the so-called "recreation drug" would have to change if the
problem was to be tackled, the Assistant Garda Commissioner - Northern
Region, Mr Kevin Carty, has said.

Mr Carty, a former head of the Garda Drugs Squad, said the problem was not
confined to large urban areas. While heroin was available only in cities,
drugs such as amphetamines, cannabis and ecstasy were everywhere. He
believed prevention was the only answer to the problem. "We now have a
situation where it is probably regarded as more unsocial to smoke cigarettes
than it is to take ecstasy."

"Young people today are very well educated and mature and they are going to
take rational decisions. We cannot just say `don't take drugs'. We have to
give them the arguments and point out the dangers." Mr Carty also stressed
that drug abuse and prevention were not solely an issue for the gardai.
Health and education authorities and local communities also had to be
involved.

"The guards are not capable of turning the drug problem around on their own.
It is a community issue."

He said the problem was no different in the north west than in any other
region and he believed the Border was not a significant factor. "Ecstasy is
all over the country. People have this idea of fellas in balaclavas selling
drugs in dark alleys, but it's not like that." Mr Carty, who presented Garda
Youth Achievement awards in Sligo on Tuesday night to mark European Drug
Prevention Week, said it was vital to get the message across to very young
children, as this was when attitudes were formed.

Checked-by: Don Beck