Drink and Drugs - A National Epidemic?

Community Activist
Ógra Shinn Féin

Recognising the huge burden that drugs and alcohol misuse presents to the Irish people, progressive community based activists need a campaign to tackle the issue head on in attempting to curb this growing problem.



Drugs and alcohol misuse is a social ill that we all need to understand, raise awareness about and implement practical actions that can address the current problem and help prevent the epidemic for future generations.

Alcoholism is a huge problem in Ireland. Ireland is synonymous with alcohol, the land of whiskey and stout. With alcohol being one of our biggest productions and exports, high consumption and misuse has went hand in hand. Add to that the economically depressed story of Ireland over the past centuries and chronic unemployment has resulted in many ‘turning to the bottle.’

In recent years in Ireland, illegal drug misuse has also surged. There has been a huge growth in the availability of illegal drugs, coupled with that a growing gap between rich and poor, resulting in many being left behind in the prosperity by the Celtic Tiger. This prosperity of the minority has also created a false sense of economic stability and with that a growing level of materialism.

Chronic drug problems are very much obvious in many working class housing estates throughout Ireland, ripping the soul out of many of these areas, and the poverty and social deprivation in these areas, has ensured huge levels of depression, disempowerment and a growing sense of helplessness. All these factors and a growing availability of alcohol and illegal drugs has ensured many more people especially the youth consuming and misusing drink and drugs.

The growing level of materialism in Irish society plays its part in many young people going out at the weekend and either binge drinking, casual drug taking or both. This is a worrying trend considering the majority of drug addictions and alcoholism starts of as casual, social use.

The underlying problem in much of Ireland’s indeed the world’s drug problems is inequality. An unequal society which confines the majority to poverty and worthlessness, no sense of individual never mind national pride, and apathetic state systems which are quite content to allow the marginalised and oppressed to remain disempowered. I mean, would the neo-colonialists and right wingers who dominate global politics really want an uppity bunch of working class scoundrels empowering communities and affecting the ‘status quo.’?

It is a stated fact that to suppress the growth of the Black Panthers in the USA, the CIA started flooding black communities with drugs, prompting up and colluding with many criminals to distribute the drugs and create hopelessness in these communities. Would it really surprise you if the Brits or Free Staters used the same tactics in Ireland?

So what can we do to change mindsets, and to tackle this problem head on?

We need to take a realistic approach to this, to recognise that it is indeed a huge problem and is not going to be solved over night, but that every little action will have an impact.

We need to realise that drug and alcohol misuse are indeed a problem that we will always need to tackle, even when we have achieved the Socialist Republic. But we can play our part now in greatly reducing the level of addictions and use.

In the short term, we need more awareness on drugs and alcohol; we need interactive peer leadership workshops brought into schools, youth clubs and community halls dealing with the effects, positive and negative, so that younger people, who are most vulnerable, are more informed. We do not need a finger wagging exercise from adults lecturing young people on drug taking but more so, a peer based approach where young people are discussing and engaging with other young people on all information relating to drugs and alcohol.

We as community activists also need to be engaging with the young people on the street corners, on the periphery of the community, who are less likely to be involved in a youth or sporting club. We need to engage with them, try to include them in youth and sporting schemes, and provide them with information relating to drugs ensuring they are informed of any upcoming workshops and events.

There are drug and alcohol help lines which are able to counsel anyone from basic information to addictions and how to seek help. We need to make these numbers available to people, and ensure that if they have a problem they have someone to contact.

The above are very much future preventative measures. But we also need to look at those already addicted.

Local clinics and counselling need to be made available for those seeking help and assistance in overcoming their addiction.

Communities should be empowered to take decisions of tenancy for convicted or suspected drug dealers living in their area. The scourge of a drug dealer in an area is something no community should have to deal with, and the local tenants or community association should have more powers in dealing with this problem. This would greatly increase the confidence of communities and lead to empowerment and a greater sense of pride in the local area.

Tougher sentencing needs to be introduced against those involved in every level of drug dealing. A stronger message needs to be sent out against those that profiteer against the backdrop of desperate communities and wrecked lives.

Tougher licensing laws need to be brought in on off licenses. Anyone caught serving under age customers should have their license revoked immediately. The location of, off license’s, to communities also needs to be looked at.

In all of this a strong community is essential, a strong community structure that can provide assistance to all the above measures. A strong community is also essential in providing confidence in young people, enshrining in them a community spirit, a love of their area and desire to build and not destroy their community.

This article is written in frustration at the growing problem associated with drugs and alcohol, in an attempt to ferment discussion around how best to deal with this epidemic in Irish society.

This is a discussion piece and by no means definitive, therefore I welcome constructive criticism with all aspects of this article.

We need an effective strategy in dealing with this growing problem, only through discussion can we develop a national strategy that can be implemented at community level. A strategy that can tackle the pushers head on, can help those addicted, inform the youth and more importantly ensure the empowerment of communities.

“He who fails to plan, plans to fail.”