Drug strategy plans due by end of March

Proposals for a new National Drugs Strategy, covering the period 2009-2016, are expected to be finalised by the end of March.
The end of deliberations of the Steering Group chaired by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs is also expected to coincide with the latest EU-wide statistics on alcohol and drug activity among teenagers.

“The 2007 European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs [ESPAD] will give us a much more comprehensive view of alcohol and drug activity among our schoolchildren and of where we stand internationally in that regard,” commented Minister Éamon Ó Cuív.
Data for the ESPAD are collected every fourth year. The latest survey was carried out in 35 countries during the spring of 2007 and the results are due to be published on March 26.
Key results from the previous report revealed that the proportion of Irish students who had been drinking any alcohol during the previous 12 months was a little higher than average. However, the proportion that had been drunk during the same period was substantially higher than the average (72 per cent versus 53 per cent).
The lifetime smoking prevalence was about the same as the average (67 per cent compared to 66 per cent). The use of marijuana or hashish, however, was twice as common in Ireland (39 per cent versus 21 per cent), while the use of illicit drugs other than cannabis was slightly above average (9 per cent versus 6 per cent).
Worryingly, the use of inhalants in Ireland was about twice the average (18 per cent compared to 10 per cent).
Minister Ó Cuív told the Dáil that the Working Group drawing up the new National Drugs Strategy was conscious of the need to target alcohol in the context of developing a broader prevention strategy to tackle substance misuse.
“It’s also aware of the potential synergies in the areas of treatment and rehabilitation, especially given the growing evidence of polydrug use and the role of alcohol as a potential ‘gateway drug’,” he added.