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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Alcohol, tobacco and illicit substance use among 17‒18-year-olds in Ireland
by Sean Millar
Growing up in Ireland is the national longitudinal study of children in the Republic of Ireland. Funded by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA), the project is overseen and managed by the DCYA in association with the Central Statistics Office. The child cohort was recruited in 2007, when 8568 nine-year-olds were interviewed. Just over 7400 young people were re-interviewed at 13 years of age (between August 2011 and February 2012) and just over 6200 participated again at 17–18 years (between 2015 and September 2016). This article highlights key findings on alcohol, tobacco and illicit substance use in this cohort using information collected during the third wave of the study.1 The data were collected in home-based, face-to-face interviews.
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Lifting the lid on Greentown
by Ciara Guiney
On 13 February 2017, Dr Sean Redmond, Adjunct Professor of Youth Justice at the School of Law, University of Limerick, launched the Lifting the lid on Greentown report.1,2 The report outlined a study that examined the effect of a criminal network on the offending behaviour of children between 2010 and 2011 in a regional Garda sub-district outside Dublin referred to as Greentown.
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