THE KEY to curbing drug-related deaths in Ireland lies in education rather than prohibition.
That s the opinion of the National Youth Federation whose newly-published Ecstasy And Young People report recommends a major re-think along British and Dutch lines.
There should be a particular focus on raves and nightclubs emphasising harm reduction measures for ecstasy users, it says. Such a campaign in Scotland has resulted in no reported ecstasy related deaths in an 18 month to two year period.
The report goes on to observe that, the situation with regard to ecstasy use is confused and sometimes contradictory. Depending on the source of information, one could categorise ecstasy as a drug with minimal risks involved, providing precautions are adhered to when using it, or, at the other end of the spectrum that it is a highly dangerous toxic substance with potentially serious consequences.
While stopping short of naming names, the blame for this is put on the majority of media coverage which tends to be sensationalistic portraying ecstasy as a death drug without the evidence to support this claim.
As Hot Press has discovered on numerous occasions in the past, that sort of rhetoric doesn t go down at all well with the just say no brigade.
The fact that we re talking about harm reduction, rather than more money for the Gardam to get tough on dealers , is bound to rankle with some people, admits report author Fran Bissett. Thankfully, that kind of narrow-minded thinking is becoming increasingly marginalised. The Government Task Force has also advocated harm reduction as a way of addressing the soft drugs issue, so I think intelligent debate is winning through.
Despite being compiled in conjunction with the Department of Health, Bissett is adamant that he was given an entirely free editorial rein.
We ran the report by the Department and the Gardam to make sure we d got our facts and figures right but that was all, he continues. The recommendations are really just common sense. Making sure clubs follow certain guidelines, providing proper treatment facilities, carrying out our own Irish-oriented research rather than relying on overseas studies there s no reason why anybody should object to that.
Unless, of course, you just happen to be the leader of the Progressive Democrats.