Illicit drug use in Ireland: An overview of the problem and policy responses.

This paper looked at the development of problematic illicit drug use and the responses of policy makers and local communities. It drew on existing research and on the initial results from a study of the environmental aspects of problematic drug use. The author stated that such drug use, and in particular the misuse of opiates, had been identified as a major social problem in Ireland. It was found to be concentrated in Dublin's inner city areas and outer estates where poverty, multi-generational unemployment, high population density and poor facilities were the norm. The author suggested that policy responses to the issue tended to focus mainly on the medical treatment of the individual, rather than on wider social and economic factors