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RECREATIONAL DRUG USERS are being asked to consider their role in feeding the market that feuding gangs are fighting over in West Dublin and in Drogheda.
There has been an escalation in gang feud activity in these areas in recent months, with a number of shooting incidents, pipe and petrol bomb attacks and cases of arson. Some of these incidents have taken place in the middle of the day – one in Corduff was outside a school.
Innocent people in these areas say they are now living in fear and they are scared to talk to gardaí when they witness feud activity. Philip Jennings of Safer Blanchardstown told TheJournal.ie that people outside of these communities can not ignore their role in keeping these gangs in business.
“This is driven by money, the money from people using recreational drugs. The gangs are fighting over control of the recreational market – that’s where the big money is.
There is a proportion of it that’s generated by people with a dependence, but a lot of the money is coming from so-called law-abiding citizens who go out to do a line of cocaine in a pub or disco, or those who think it’s okay to smoke a bag of weed at the weekend.
Jennings said people to not see the connection between the money they hand over occasionally to a dealer and “what these guys are fighting over”.
“This is not particular to Corduff or what we see in Drogheda, you see it in Sligo, in Donegal, in every country in the country. This is a national problem, it’s something Irish society has to tackle,” he said.
Janet Robinson, who conducts research for Blanchardstown Local Drug and Alcohol Taskforce, said she ran a focus group with young people recently and they told her they thought there was a “poor link” between recreational drug use and gang crime and the harm to communities.
“That perception told me that more education is needed and it shows how drug use is just totally normalised and people can’t see the real impact. They think ‘I just do my little bit of cocaine at the weekend’ and the dealer might be a friend, they know each other.”
People who are using drugs ‘recreationally’ are also not likely to be aware of how involved children are in the drugs trade they are funding. Research Robinson conducted in 2017 found children as young as 10-years-old are dealing while children as young as eight are drug running in the Dublin 15 area.
Normalising drug abuse
Superintendent Noel Cunningham, who is president of the Association of Garda Superintendents, earlier this week said the use of the term ‘recreational drugs’ is helping to “normalise what is illegal, dangerous and supporting drug abuse in Ireland”.
“We must be careful with our language and supportive of a multi-agency approach to addressing drug abuse within our young and not-so-young communities.”
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, speaking at the association’s conference, said he agreed the use of this term was “not appropriate”.
“If you look at drugs, drugs feed then into crime gangs and that feeds into turf wars and then that becomes murder and serious violence and all these things are a continuum and that continuum leads to other forms of criminality, be it human trafficking, be it illegal and indeed child abuse online,” he said.
“There is all sorts of problems about being any sort of customer of the drugs trade.
“You are feeding an illegal trade and you only have to look across the water to see the misery there is in other parts of the world, in Central America, for instance, in the drugs trade. Bear in mind your euro, your euros that you’ve spent on drugs is feeding that crime.”
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Make it legal then, they’re only fighting over it because it’s ILLEGAL. The Gardaí are obsessed with drugs, and they have never made any difference whatsoever, people get what they want, when they want it.
@Orla Smith: Whatever about medicinal cannibas becoming legal in this country. Cocaine never will. Not a chance.
@Damien: Cocaine is less harmful to both the individual and society than alcohol, which tops the table of the 20 most commonly consumed drugs http://www.vox.com/platform/amp/2015/2/24/8094759/alcohol-marijuana
@Orla Smith: All I’m saying is that realistically. People can call for drugs to be legalised in this country. But can you see it happening in Ireland in the next 20 years? I would say no.
@Orla Smith: And as for your link there about the most harmful drugs. Would you personally consider Alcohol to be a more dangerous drug to take than heroin? I think if 80% of the Irish population took heroin as they do alcohol. The economy might be in a slightly worse state than it is at the moment.
@Orla Smith: do not agree with this statement. I know how messed up coke make you. It fuels a night out were u drink more and just crave more coke.
It’s a terrible drug and is really harmful. It brings on dependency make u have mood swings makes u sick brings on infections of the nose throat. Spreads diesese ( staff infections as well as Hep and hiv )
It’s trouble and catches up with the end user.
@Damien: My link shows heroin as more harmful to the individual along with crack cocaine.
@Damien: And apologies, I agree, cocaine will not be legalised in Ireland any time soon.
@Orla Smith: Last time I checked nobodies veins collapsed from injecting bulmers
@Orla Smith: Cocaine destroys the heart muscle.
@Ronan Mac Sweeney: “Spreads diesese ( staff infections as well as Hep and hiv )”….pure and utter horse sh** mate. The bottom line is there will always be people who lose the run of themselves, I had a friend drink himself do death, horrific death it was. You either have self control or you do not, if you don’t something will kill you be it coke, alcohol, gambling. eating…..its all the same.
@Peter Hughes: Chances are, your local alcoholic will have no option but to dry off for a few days after running out of money. Drug addicts will do anything to get their next fix. If that’s beating a 90 year old woman to a pulp for £20 in her purse. Then so be it
@Dave Doyle: So does my local chipper whats your point?
@Damien: I don’t think cigarettes will ever be made legal considering the awful damage they do to addicts. They could be a big source of tax revenue though
@Ronan Mac Sweeney: Alcohol does all of those things too, apart from your weird last three sentences.
@Tony Donoghue: Cigarettes are only a danger to the users themselves.
@Peter Govan: stupid comment. Equal to saying last time I checked nobodies liver collapsed from drinking heroin
@Orla Smith: don’t think legalising drugs is a good idea but I do think de-criminalising for personal use would be a progressive step. It has had great success in Portugal. The court system is constantly tied up with people charged with minimal amounts of drugs while those at the top never see a day in court
@Ronan Mac Sweeney: alcohol is more dangerous and more addictive let’s ban that. We could transform our society if recreational drugs were legalised. Imagine the man hours freed up for gardai to focus on violent crimes against law abiding citizens. If drugs were available from licensed operators in a highly controlled environment then we could use the taxation income to fund a world class health system.
@Damien: passive smoking??
@John Paul: no but you’ll end up with hep c which ducks up your liver or damage your kidneys, 8 cans of bulmers won’t do that but one injection of heroin could. In fact sir your argument is beyond stupid it’s completely brain dead
@Damien: why not ….
There are lots of very good reasons not to take drugs but asking people to not do so because it feeds criminality is nonsense.
It is only criminal because the state has deemed it so.
@thephantomshit: This is so smack-in-the-face obvious too, after so many years of total abject failure, worldwide, of the “war on drugs”. Yet here we are, still scratching our heads at the problem
@thephantomshit: Lots of good reasons to ban fast food also, probably just as harmful as many drugs, worked with a lad who ate them regularly and dropped with a heart attack late 30s, no difference we all have choices in life, lots of things can kill from sugar to pain killers, you got to have self control, if you don’t have it good chance drugs or no drugs you won’t last long.
@Peter Hughes: Is this the same guy who drank himself to death in your other post?
Class a drugs are designed to be addictive, they are the perfect product. your ‘customer’ completely loses all ability to stop, even though they know its destroying their lives and killing them. Self control is irrelevant in the case of class A drugs.
@CrabaRev: not true I know people who take class a drugs like mdma and amphetamines occasionally. In fact most people take those drugs very occasionally
@CrabaRev: “Class a drugs are designed to be addictive”….only morons get hooked, you can get hooked on pain killers again what is your point here?….the dude with the heart I worked with, the other who drank himself to death was a friend. Don’t know anyone who got hooked on drugs at all.
@Peter Hughes:
I do unfortunately. people die of heart disease whether or not they eat burgers and chips.
If you have seen the effects of alcohol addiction on an individual and think its an issue of self control, then I would worry for you.
“only morons get hooked” absolutely not the case. Cocaine and heroin are two of the most physically addictive substances out there. They fundamentally change the chemistry of your brain. You have zero control over it
Yes you can get hooked on certain pain killers and antidepressants, hence they controlled. They only reason they are not illegal is because they have useful medicinal function. Heroin and cocaine do not.
@CrabaRev: Have you ever taken a Class A drug of any kind?
@CrabaRev: For the record, diamorphine (heroin) is used medically in several countries to relieve pain or in opioid replacement therapy.
Also, the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery considers cocaine to be a valuable anesthetic and vasoconstricting agent when used as part of the treatment of a patient by a physician. No other single drug combines the anesthetic and vasoconstricting properties of cocaine.
Any other nuggets of wisdom on what’s clearly your strong subject?
@CrabaRev: if you had zero control over it every person who ever done these drugs would be strung out…I know of loads who do coke and none are anyway near addicted. Again only morons or people who have an addictive personality get hooked…
Well thankfully its a very easy fix. Legalise them. Why are we leaving the produce and supply of highly valuable and sought after substances to the black market? It is madness. Drugs are bad has failed. War on drugs has failed. We are inquisitive creatures who in the majority of cases understand the consequences of the decisions we make.
I don’t take drugs but I do think that narrative about responsibility is too simplistic. These fueds are fueled by criminals who if we’re not selling drugs would be scamming old ladies out of cash to clean gutters, or stealing ATM machines. You are funding their lifestyle , but to think these guys wouldn’t find something else to fight about were there no drugs is a wee bit nieve.
@Daithi Ó Raghallaigh: that’s not necessarily true Daithi.
There are HUGE amounts of money being generated by sale of illegal drugs , this money exists entirely in the unregulated black market.
People are drawn to enter the market by the sheer quantity of money we are talking about and only because of lack of protection by law (due to the illegality) they have to settle disputes, protect product etc by other means. This also attracts more violent factions but the criminality follows the money not the other way round.
If this revenue stream was taken away there would be no business for a lot of these lads to be in.
Ask any economist.
@Daithi Ó Raghallaigh: but there would be an unquantifiable amount if garda resources freed up to focus on violent crimes
LEGALISE
Not my line
@Paddy Sparky Power: Who’s line is it anyway lol.
Yet you have the same people complaining about recreational users funding drug dealers providing injection centres for heroin users who are using heroin supplied by the same drug dealers.
@Luke Lee: Injection centres are a solution similar to that of legalisation. Safe clean environment off the streets, or would you prefer to keep things as they are? Because that’s clearly working
@Coco86: Oh right. So the heroin that will be used in these injection centres will not come from drug dealers?
@Luke Lee: I’m not sure if they are the same people. The state is a collection of opinions. I’d have thought that those advocating injection centres were more likely to advocate legalisation in general
@Luke Lee: Junkies should be given heroin free, no more crime. Monitor them in injection centers, give them access to help…..what we are doing at the moment is nonsensical rubbish which will never make a jot of difference. Everyone with half a brain in their head knows heroin is a horrific drug, but you will always get a small percentage of morons that will do it anyway, legal or illegal that will never change, but at least we can manage the issue better because at the moment the only winners are the gangs who are making vast profits from this.
@Luke Lee: Of course it will come from dealers but your missing the point. If a loved one of yours was battling herion addiction would you rather them in a safe environment or on the streets? Pretty simple really, a small bit of open mindedness would go a long way.
@Luke Lee: they should be given heroin for free in the injection centres to keep the money away from gangs and get rid of the need to steal for drug money.
Problem largely solved.
It is absolutely clear that the war on drugs has been an abject failure and has achieved nothing other than the promotion of criminality. It behoves our politicians to actually understand this and to then legalize the business and then do what our politicians do best and tax the bejaysus out of it!
You know what is an easy fix, maybe if you are a recreational user don’t buy illegal drugs that are funding violent criminal gangs. Just a thought. How can you buy these drugs that cause such a blight on society knowing the effects it has.
@Charles McGuire: Drug taking be it coffee, hash a drink down the local. This has been going on for as long as we are around it is not going to stop, people like to get different types of experiences from drugs burring your head in the sand saying don’t do it won’t change anything, we need a totally different approach and see if it helps, because lets face it what we are doing now ain’t working is it.
@Charles McGuire: Do you drink, smoke? Do you buy from pharmaceuticals that make drugs far more powerful and addictive than some of the illegal drugs? Chocolate funds gangs, bloody avocados are funding cartels. There is a fix, and it’s not the unwinnable war on drugs. We’ll be one of the last to change, our legal profession makes huge money from it, our pharmaceutical industry also.
@Charles McGuire: so you came on here just to basically say what it says in the article?? Well done Sherlock you have solved the case
@Charles McGuire: it’s a nice soundbite but people taking drugs realise that they are only funding criminality because of the ridiculous legal state of those drugs. The approach that you are suggesting has been tried for the last 70 odd years and clearly has not worked!
There is a very simple solution that will cease recreational drug use funding criminality… legalise it.
Canabis is less harmful than alchol, and has many cures, it won’t be long before the goverment plan to take over this natural plant comes about, bringing in legislations under the guise of medicinal and goverment owned so as to extract money from the people, just like the water.
Garda careers are messed up, they were supposed to protect the public initially but that cost to much so they put them all to good goverment use, they have become goverment tax and bill collectors with badge and hats, taking money of the poor and disadvantaged if they have no Nct, Tax, blabla, made up little names like that, they all add up to mean the one and the same thing, ‘give me your money’ it is no wonder people are worried about asking garda for protection, that’s like asking a person who is casing your house for a future robbery, to help you, the only interest goverments have is how to extract money of there people, rich or poor, rich don’t feel the pinch, but they are probably getting money taken from them that they themselves don’t even realise.
The goverments have no interest in stopping or helping everyday people, they have one agenda, extracting money, regardless of wealth, all the drugs that get ceased from the lesser guys, have you ever wondered where they go, in this world of recycling?
I wouldn’t have faith in goverments, they have never done anything for there people except make life more difficult for our future generations, polititions sleeping on benches instead of putting up a fight for there people, has probably added to the countries downfalls, but in saying that, mabye i underestimate the sleeping polititions, mabye its an expression of how bired they have become, because they know goverments wear ear muffs.
Goverments are well and capable of stopping all levels of crimes, why they don’t is the real question.
IT DOSENT PAY THEM!!!
@Louisa Anna Harley:
You put forward a very compelling argument and you obviously have a deep insight into politics, society and the rule of law. Keep posting this type of stuff and it won’t be long before you are political editor for a major publication.
My apologies for the long winded sarcasm, but the toxicity filter wouldn’t allow me to post a more succinct reply.
@Louisa Anna Harley: cannibis is not harmful sorry I used to smoke it it certainly dose harm you trust me. Alcohol is as bad your right but don’t think it dosnt harm you when it completely dose.
The Drogheda thing is about a certain ethnic minority doing their usual thing, but let’s not mention that while we can just blame those evil settled people.
Working in the bar industry you can see that this is everywhere. It is considered normal now. Just tax it and put the money made into schools. Way better than spending money fighting something you can’t fix. The definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
Yes of course, if people did not use drugs these lads would software engineers, postmen, teachers and retail workers.
I think the problems run a little bit deeper than that, look at tobacco and alcohol Inc. No problems there . High tax income for the state and kills lots of people before they burden the state
It has been a while since I looked at the stats, but going by the frequency at which I smell it in the streets of Dublin city, I would imagine the bulk of money that gangs are fighting over is still coming from something a lot more politically palatable to legalise.
Leave them at it.
Just remember before you snort or smoke this it’s most likely been swallowed and s**t out of a drugs mule before you take it.
Your welcome.
For those that propose the Legalise argument.
You say the War on Drugs is pointless and just creates more criminals. Let me put it to you this way. Is the Law against Driving under the influence of drink or drugs pointless and a waste of Garda time and resources? It has been illegal for decades, everyone knows it’s illegal. But people still continue to do it.
Using this logic as the pro legalise proponents do for drugs then it must stand for every other criminal activity too. Why have any law at all? People are always going to break it. And it’s only wasting Garda time trying to prevent it.
@Mick.: You do realise it’s legal to drink here but not to drive while drunk, yeah?
@Mick.: 2 main differences:
1) the law against drink driving is actually effective. Drink driving rates are decreasing. Unlike under prohibition, drug taking has increased massively.
2) taking drugs is only harmful to the taker unlike drink driving which is potentially lethal to innocent bystanders.
Ye all have to look at the bigger picture and look at at it from this perspective. If they legalised drugs look how many guards customs border control jobs would be lost were talking about a multi billion euro company here. It’s gas like the guards asking people to think about using cocaine I was in a place a couple of years back and to guards were off duty that were known to me and they were openly taking cocaine. Society needs a lot more from the government to tackle this and I’m afraid it’s not going to go away any sooner.
When they locked up one of the dunnes who were the first famiky to import herion to Ireland he said if you think we’re bad wait until you see the next generation and he wasn’t wrong. I am myself an recovering addict 19 years Thanks be to god. It will take an awful lot to stop the gangs.
Drove by a field earlier on Ballymakenny road outside Drogheda. Gardai van, squad car and unmarked car just outside. 5/6 people just inside in a circle looking down on the ground.
@Michael Carolan: County council men do that every day.
Hasn’t the real problem been the Gardai not nipping these things in the bud???
All you people who want coke legallised?? Tell you what.. Let’s legalise crack cocaine and see what happens… Crack is crystalised cocaine.. easily produced.. cheaper than coke.. more zombies
@Stephen O Malley: Would you start on the crack cocaine just because it’s not illegal anymore?
The feud in Drogheda is a traveller feud, nothing more nothing less.
Good argument in the article but instead of shifting the blame on to the public why not ask the govt why they constantly ignore the drug and crime issue in society or give the law and communities sufficient funding to tackle the problem?
@John Paul: how much would be sufficient and how should they use it?
have your say