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Implementing a health-led approach to drug use – what does it mean?
by Lucy Dillon
In
the Programme for Government published in May 2016, a commitment was made to ‘supporta health-led rather than criminal justice approach to drug use’ (p. 56).
On 17 November, CityWide Drugs Crisis Campaign held a seminar to explore what this commitment means in practice and what implementing such an approach in Ireland would
involve. Decriminalising the possession of drug use was at the core of much of the discussion.
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General public attitude to drug users – CityWide survey
by Lucy Dillon
The findings of a survey on attitudes to drugs and drug users by the general population were published in November 2016.1 The survey was carried out by Red C for CityWide Drug Crisis Campaign. It was an online national omnibus survey with a nationally representative sample of 1035 adults. The topics covered included respondents’ own drug use, various attitudes and beliefs about drugs and drug users, their place in society, and the decriminalisation of drug use. Some key findings are presented below.
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Regenerating Dublin’s North East Inner City
by Lucy Dillon
In June 2016, a Ministerial Taskforce chaired by An Taoiseach was established to support the long-term economic and social regeneration of Dublin’s North East Inner City (NEIC). This was in response to a series of murders in the area which were linked to an ongoing feud between criminal gangs involved in the drugs trade and other criminal activities. The taskforce appointed Kieran Mulvey, former chairman of the Labour Court, to prepare a report to inform this regeneration. Among the terms of reference were that Mulvey would ‘recommend specific measures which would support the long-term economic and social regeneration of the area, with a ten year timeframe’ (p. 6). On 16 February 2017, ‘Creating a brighter future’: an outline plan for the social and economic regeneration of Dublin’s North East Inner City was published.1
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RECOVEU: Participative approach to curriculum development for adults in addiction recovery across EU
by Thérèse Lynn, Gerry McAleenan
The RECOVEU project was a three-year education initiative funded under the European Union (EU) Grundtvig Lifelong Learning Programme1, which was completed in December 2016. The aim of RECOVEU was to develop innovative learning activities to assist adults in addiction recovery to prepare for, and succeed in, college or university across the EU as well as starting the conversation about recovery capital. Set up in 2014, its partners comprised Soilse (Ireland), Staffordshire University (UK), the Centre for the Advancement of Research and Development in Educational Technology (CARDET-Cyprus), St Dimitrie Basarabov Program (Romania) and the Cooperativa Sociale San Saturnino Onlus (SANSET-Italy).
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