A 24-year-old man from Balla who bought methylethcathinone (MEC ) over the internet told Castlebar District Court this week that he became addicted to the “feeling of euphoria” but now wants help to deal with his drug problem.
Garda Tyrone Tobin outlined that following confidential information received, gardaí called to the home of Jason Duffy, 7 Woodlands, Balla, at 10.25pm on Friday January 20 2012. In Duffy’s bedroom they found 40 bags of a white powdered substance. Also found was a weighing scales and a suspected tick list. The powder was sent for forensic analysis. Contained in five bags was methadrone, in 33 bags there was MEC and in two bags there was no controlled substance. The street value of drugs found was €1,542.37.
Solicitor Lynda Lenehan said that her client paid €800 for the drugs from the internet and they came from Holland.
The former NUI Galway arts student told the court that college kept him focused, however when he moved home in May 2011 “there was no job, nothing” and he began drinking too much and took MEC. Duffy said that he got into a small debt and thought that he could see it so he ordered it online, however he started taking a lot of it himself and took 15 to 20 grams of it a week. He said it’s “very, very, addictive” and now wants to get his life back on track .
Duffy was due to start Hope House last week but he was released as he had substances in his system and is scheduled to return on March 25.
Judge Mary Devins adjourned the case to May 15 for a probation report.
