Pubdate: Thu, 30 Mar 2000
Source: Examiner, The (Ireland)
Copyright: Examiner Publications Ltd, 2000
Contact:  http://www.examiner.ie/
Section: Opinion

CITY FACES BATTLE ON HEROIN USE

THE report that heroin is endemic in Limerick is an alarming
development in a city striving to overcome its media image as a centre
of violence.

Perhaps most worrying is the finding that young people of all social
classes are becoming addicted to the hard drug which has been at the
heart of Dublin’s inner city problems.

According to Fr Joe Young the scourge of addiction is affecting all
social strata in Limerick unlike Dublin where it was mainly confined
to the poorer areas.

It is vital to beef up the city’s under resourced drug squad and for
the city’s social, medical and legal agencies to tackle this problem
before it explodes in their faces. It will be a tragedy for Limerick
if the lessons of Dublin are ignored. 
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