Calls for new steps against street sales of methadone

New steps to combat the illegal sale of the heroin substitute drug
methadone to addicts were advocated by an addiction expert at an inquest in
Dublin yesterday.

Dr Ide Delargy, GP coordinator in addiction with the Eastern Health Board,
was addressing a jury in the Dublin County Coroner's Court at an inquest
into the death of Ciara Long (24), of Ash lawn Park, Ballybrack, Co Dublin,
who died from an overdose of methadone and cocaine on February 17th.

Dr Delargy said Dublin could follow the example of Glasgow by implementing
a threestep programme to eliminate the trading or leakage of prescribed
methadone from pharmacies on to the streets.

She recommended supervised consumption of all methadone dosages to patients
to take place only in pharmacists.

After some weeks of this practice, small quantities of the drug could be
taken home by users, but as a third step this would only take place after
their families had taken part in a supervised therapy programme which would
result in a "watchful eye" being kept on the methadone user by a member of
that family.

The programme would curtail or stop streetselling of methadone, Dr Delargy
said, and was generally designed to stop people from participating in the
"injection culture" of heroin.

The inquest in Dun Laoghaire was told Ms Long went to a christening
ceremony at the Fishing Club at Bray harbour on February 16th with her
boyfriend, Mr Joseph Gregg, of Ashlawn Park, Ballybrack. They both consumed
about 11/2 grammes of cocaine after drinking sessions at pubs in Bray and
Sallynoggin.

In evidence, Mr Gregg said Ciara returned to his home and slept on the
couch at about 3 a.m. He woke her at about 8 a.m. but they both went back
to sleep.

About midday he tried in vain to wake her and called his mother to give her
the kiss of life. Despite resuscitation attempts by members of the family
and neighbours, she had to be taken to Loughlinstown Hospital by ambulance.

Mrs Margaret Gregg, his mother, gave evidence of finding Ciara lying on the
couch and going blue in the face when she got her to stand up.

Mrs Gregg, a mother of seven, told the coroner that she was not aware that
Joseph was on hard drugs or methadone. She thought he was on hash.

She said that she had already lost a daughter, Sharon, through drugs, as
she had hanged herself while in custody in Mountjoy Prison about seven
years ago. "I am now fearful for Joseph. I don't want to lose him through
drugs and he is the only one taking drugs in the family now."

Dr Niamh Nolan, a pathologist, said Ms Long was admitted to Loughlinstown
Hospital after collapsing in a state of cardiac arrest. Quantities of
cocaine, methadone and 149 mg of alcohol were found in her body.

She said death had resulted from respiratory arrest and infection as a
consequence of an overdose of methadone and cocaine.

The jury returned a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence and
urged the Dublin County Coroner, Dr Bartley Sheehan, to alert the Minister
for Health about Dr Delargy's proposed rules for the dispensing of methadone.

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