REPORT ADMITS TO HOSTEL DRUGS USE

The Eastern Health Board had to abandon its "drug-free" policy at one of
its emergency residential units in Dublin because banning all drug use was
"not a realistic objective", the report reveals.

The unit was opened for 12- to 17-year-old boys and girls who are used to
surviving on the streets and many of whom are involved in crime, drug abuse
and prostitution. Since it opened "heroin has continued to be a huge
difficulty" in its work, the report says.

Of 28 young people admitted to the unit in the last year, 16 actively
abused drugs. Twelve abused heroin, two took a variety of drugs, one abused
medicines and one abused cannabis "to a serious extent and within the unit".

Frequently, it says, young people are placed in the unit "who require a
much more specialised and therapeutic environment than can be provided
within the chaos of a busy emergency unit".

It is pessimistic about the future of those who come to the unit. Of the 28
admitted last year, "13 young people were discharged because of
unmanageable behaviour or continued drug use, four young people chose to
leave and one was sentenced to prison".

"Positive outcomes in the short term are extremely difficult to achieve for
this group of young people," it states.