Two healthcare professionals have called out the urgent need for inpatient treatment services for those addicted to cocaine in a documentary broadcast on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta yesterday about the cocaine problem in Connemara.
However the HSE have said they are unaware of a need for such services. In the programme, entitled Snaoisín Bán, addiction counsellor Joe Treacy and GP Michael Casey say that there is a need for better services in Galway after the Community Drug and Alcohol Treatment Centre in Merlin Park Hospital was destroyed in a fire in 2013.
Counsellor Joe Treacy, who has been working in Galway since 1989, says that the cocaine problem has increased significantly in the region, particularly in the last two years.
“It’s down every bóithrín, in every village, every place, there’s nowhere untouched. There is no age group, it’s 17 – 70. It’s terrible, and we can see it in the hospitals, in the courts, in the Garda stations. People say to me it’s pretty harmless.
“That’s what they think… It’s not pretty harmless, it’s very dangerous,” he said.
GP Michael Casey describes a similar experience:
“It certainly is a problem. It is there for a few years and we can see it now. In the rural areas, people with symptoms are presenting now in the surgeries with problems to do with cocaine. In Connemara, I have seen cases, especially in the last year….
People don’t know the damage that drug can do. People are using it daily. It’s across the board, all professions, and people who should know better they’re using it too.”
Leaving the county to get treatment
Joe Treacy says that 900 people a year used to attend the treatment unit in Merlin Park, and that people needing treatment must now leave the county to get it.
“I have to say that there was a great service in Merlin Park when it was there. We saw 900 people a year there ... but there’s nothing comparable in Galway now. Those people are still out there…”
“Those people are leaving the county and going anywhere they can … A big city like Galway and the services are not matching the population.”
GP Michael Casey said there should be a designated place, particularly in Galway city, or around the city, for patients with this problem … that they can walk in and get help, get education… when they need it.”
Despite this, in a statement to the programme, the HSE said they were unaware of the need for extra services.
“The data available through the National Drug Treatment Reporting System from 2019 to 2021 is not showing a significant increase in the amount of people being treated for cocaine. Our treatment figures do not indicate a need for an additional residential treatment facility for cocaine users.”
Although there is an outpatient facility on Merchant’s Road in Galway City, counsellor Joe Treacy says that it is not in a suitable place, as it is too public and not accessible. He said that the HSE was given advice about this service, but did not heed it.
The Gardaí say that there was an increase of more than 50% in the number of people caught in possession of drugs in Connemara between 2021 and 2022, and in the programme they said that they have limited resources to deal with the problem.
Detective Sergeant Garda Colm Mac Donnchadha says that the figures don not indicate the true level of the problem, just the resources allocated to it, and that they only represent about 10% of the drugs that are out there.
“For example, if it happens in 2023 that nobody will be caught in Connemara in possession of drugs, that doesn’t mean that the problem has gone away. It just means that the Gardaí don’t have the resources to tackle it.
“If there’s an increase in the figures, that means the Gardaí have put more resources into it. For example, the 50% increase in Connemara between 2021 and 2022 shows that the Gardaí put more resources into it.
“It’s widespread, and the number of people caught in possession of drugs by the Gardaí is increasing year on year, but that’s only a small percentage of the drugs that are out there. We’re only getting about 10%.”
“We’ve a big problem ahead with cocaine, not only in Connemara but across the country. From a rural perspective, this is not a problem we ever thought we’d see, but unfortunately that’s what’s ahead now.”
The Gardaí have recently announced a new position in Oughterard which will be focused on drugs. In the programme, Colm Mac Donnchadha said the Gardaí intended to increase the resources and Gardaí in the drugs unit in the Galway Division focused on both city and county.
The programme included a personal description from a 32 year old man of his cocaine addiction, and how it escalated from his first line of cocaine to a €500 a day habit. It also included a description of the rehab services available in Bushypark in Ennis, Co. Clare, including the newly-launched Cocaine Initiative project supported by Bushypark and funded by the HSE.
Treasa Bhreathnach produced Snaoisín Bán, and it was presented by Cóilín Ó Neachtain. The programme was broadcast on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta last night (Weddesnay ) and is available to listen back to at rte.ie/rnag
