The recent tragic demise of three young Belfast men has once again brought attention to Northern Ireland’s drug problem. Jim O’Connor (20), Eamonn McCoubrey (22) and Thomas Sterrett (18) were found dead on Sunday August 26. They had taken a lethal mixture of prescription drugs and alcohol.

From the coverage given to this story, one could be led to believe that prescription drug misuse is a new phenomenon. To that end, statistics were quickly wheeled out detailing the massive rise in the number of pharmacy robberies in the past year. But according to Margaret Riddle, from NI Community Addiction Service (NICAS), this is a persistent problem.

“Prescription medications have always been around,” she says. “Benzodiazepines, codeine-based drugs and hypnotics. It’s not a new problem but there is an increasing amount.”

Through her contact with users in Belfast, Riddle has seen first hand the relative affordability of these narcotics: “The prices vary – maybe 50p to £2 per tablet,” she reports. “It’ll depend on the strength and who’s selling them. But they’re very cheap – from 50p upwards.”

Jo Daykin (pictured above), the recently appointed NI Drugs Strategy Co-ordinator, has had similar experience.

“I worked in the field for 14 years and prescribed drugs were a problem way back in the ’80s,” she says. “But I think they’re being used by a different group and for different reasons than they were back then. What happens now is that young people are misusing prescribed drugs to come down from an illicit drug. And it’s not just prescribed drugs, it’s over the counter medication as well.”

In real terms, the price of illicit and illegal drugs on the street is well within reach of the average 15-30 year old. Ecstasy and cocaine have fallen dramatically in price. An E – which would have set you back up to £12 five years ago – can now be found for £6. Cocaine has dropped from £100 a gram to as little as £30 to 40. Owen O’Neill from the Eastern Drug Co-ordination Team (EDCT) believes this is one of many factors behind the recent upsurge in usage.

“More people are probably using drugs because the price of drink is going up,” he reflects. “The price of cannabis hasn’t changed in twenty years. People then were paying £100 for an ounce and they’re still paying that now. The price of drugs in real terms is so cheap whereas alcohol is going up and up.”

Related to the increase in prescription drug use is the poly-drug consumption that is fast becoming the norm. According to NICAS, people are no longer content with a single substance of choice. The profile of drugs used has therefore changed as users strive to control and manipulate their experience.

“Many of our clients,” says Riddle, “are poly-drug users – alcohol, cannabis, E’s and some speed. And they will quite often take prescription drugs – the benzodiazepines – to help them with the comedown.”

Riddle also claims that the deaths in West Belfast were not an isolated incident.

“It could happen again. People are mixing their drugs without even stopping to think of the effects. There seems to be almost a ‘don’t care’ attitude. I do know of a few cases of people who have been in intensive care and have come through. Talking to some of the habitual drug users, many of them would recognise that it was a lethal combination that those boys took. Some of them may have gained that knowledge when they were younger and were lucky to have survived.”

In the media coverage following the deaths, there was little mention of the allegation that the three men had been drinking heavily in the days prior to their deaths. As always, in the efforts to highlight the illegal drug use, the fact that alcohol itself is as destructive as any illicit substance was brushed to one side.”

Of course, a major consideration in any discussion on drugs in NI is the role played by paramilitaries. Unsurprisingly, it proved impossible for hotpress to persuade anybody to speak about this subject – even off the record.

According to RUC sources, both republicans and loyalists are involved in the drug trade in NI. Exactly to what extent remains unclear. But it appears that the apparent abhorrence that was the trademark stance 10 years ago has been turned on its head. Now the lucrative trade in illicit and illegal drugs allegedly fills coffers on both sides.

Northern Ireland was, until recently, perceived as relatively untroubled by drug abuse. Whether this was accurate is currently an area of much debate. Some would argue that this perception was due to the focus being on other more obvious difficulties that distinguished the province. Researchers at Queen’s University, Belfast, have published papers suggesting that the alleged rise in drug use since the cease-fire may represent as much a heightened awareness of the problem as an actual increase in drug use.

Jo Daykin disagrees.

“That’s a theory and view that people are entitled to but it wouldn’t be the one I would hold.” she says. “I know that when Dublin, Manchester and Glasgow were having problems with drugs in the 80’s, we weren’t. Any kind of illicit drugs use in those days was minimal. Our major problem was with alcohol and we had some problems with solvents and prescription drugs. The 90’s saw illicit drugs come into Northern Ireland. There was a hungry market waiting to be fed and when they arrived they took off with a bang.”

The statistics that are available paint a grim picture of the drug culture that is now the reality in NI. According to a survey published by the Health Promotion Agency, 33% of 11 to 16 year olds in Northern Ireland said it would be easy for them to obtain drugs if they wanted to. 3% used drugs on a regular basis.

The quantity of drugs seized has risen dramatically post cease-fire – a five-fold increase in the number of ecstasy tablets from 1998 to 2000. This could be an indication of greater quantities being trafficked or may equally be attributed to the freeing up of police time to deal with this area. However, in spite of the rise in seizures, prices on the street continue to fall – a sure indication that the supply is still there to meet the demand.

As seems to be the case in every aspect of Northern Irish life, the drug issue here is far from simple. Quite what approach to take to stem the current wave of abuse will no doubt be the subject of much debate in light of recent events. Owen O’Neill is sceptical of the sensationalism that characterises the majority of media coverage of the province’s very real drug culture.

“It’s dangerous to make a lot of generalisations out of one incident. But put together with the increase in robberies of pharmacies, this suggests that people are more willing to use prescription drugs. People are always well aware that that is a very risky thing to do. Getting that message across to people is always very difficult. Giving people information is one thing. Trying to change their behaviour is another.“