Sorry but “good” parents are, it’s the type of parents who don’t have clue where their children are that I suspect don’t.

Warning against taking drugs will work about as well as warning against drinking. People can and do take drugs without dying. Educate and regulate.

Well there is plenty of young people who drink but do not take drugs…..

It isn’t a competition. People will take drugs and the least we can do as a society is to ensure that they are as safe as possible.

Paul, not the time for lecturing or pushing whatever point you’re trying to make. A young man who went out to have a good time with his friends will never go home to his family again. Young people experiment, always have and always will. This is not the time or the place for preaching. RIP.

@Paul
Let me guess, you don’t have any kids.

Educate their children.

Great point G. Practically every 18 year old in the country is very well educated on drugs and their dangers, more so than we were at 18 I’d imagine. But young people will always experiment and rebel, it’s part of growing up. In this instance, it unfortunately had a terrible outcome

Enough is enough. This crap is far more dangerous than actual ecstasy and cocaine. Time to legalize.

My mother educated me about drugs and I was still a demon for them for a while. Kids think they know it all and don’t care what their parents think.

Diamond Dave let all the children boogie

i reckon your parents need to educate you on drugs

Lads, a family are grieving, can ye shut up making judgements on parents for the love of God. A kid is dead, learn some respect!

Education is the key. It’s impossible to stem the flow of illegal drugs. All you can do is point to the danger of ingesting something given to you by a total stranger, containing chemicals and likely mixed with dangerous/poisonous substances, mixed in an unsterile environment by criminals and the effects of which when taken with varying quantities of alcohol are unknown but are likely to cause your body internal damage and likely to lead to mood/behavioural changes that could see you or others end up in a life threatening situation. Basically, say No to drugs.

Everyone knows the risks with drugs. Young people take chances. We all did it, it’s just that most of us are lucky enough to come out the other side unscathed. I don’t condone drug use but I’m not going to condemn him or his parents either. Rest in peace Alex.

Just because parents don’t no where there children are has no bearing on what they do.if u have children and they go to a club do u go with them .as one woman said in an impact statement some MTS ago about her own son unfortunately when ur children go out u cannot control what they get up too.

I think you are right there Brian

My parents are very decent people, they run a successful business and my dad is a pillar of the community. From the age of 14 I experimented with drugs. I’ve taken most sorts, without ever thinking of what my parents would say. I did this because I was curious, and I enjoy anything that thrills, excites or changes how you feel. This is not only with drugs, I’ve traveled to 40 countries, I immerse myself in film, art, people, food, experience. To want to do do drugs is not something to be ashamed of, as little as drinking alcohol is to be ashamed of. It’s how a person wants to experience life. People who take recreational drugs are not bad individuals, they are like everyone else. The stigma put upon them by people who have no experience with it leads to failed government policies of policing and prohibition. In a just society they would be legal. That it has negative effects for some people is akin to food havng negative effects for some people. More people are ill due to being overweight than from drugs, but I would never propose banning cheese burgers. It’s a persons choice to eat them, and it is the same with drugs. The best we can do is ensure drugs are of a proper standard, and that people are informed of the side effects. In the case here it can be assumed that many more people have taken this batch of the drug this poor unfortunate man took, with no ill effects. Therefore it can also be assumed that the outcome here was as a result of probable overdosing on the amount. It is said the reaction time is 3 to 5 hours of this particular drug, but given that most people understand the reaction time to be up to one hour it is quite likely they over consumed. If they were educated in what they were taking this would never have happened. They will never be educated if we carry on as we currently do.

Alcohol is a drug.

“People who take recreational drugs are not bad individuals, they are like everyone else.”

Recreational users fund crime, prostitution, and line the pockets of drug dealers – don’t kid yourself that they are engaging in a “harmless” exercise. They might survive and be able to funciton, wear nice clothes – but their bit of fun comes at a high price for someone else.

Their drug of choice came into this country the same way as the junkies bag of heroin,

“The stigma put upon them by people who have no experience with it leads to failed government policies of policing and prohibition.”

There isn’t a stigma on them and that is the problem, they are “only having a bit of fun” – “only experimenting. That is rubbish

“More people are ill due to being overweight than from drugs, but I would never propose banning cheese burgers.”

But what if in every hamburger sold there was a portion that was riddled with poison that could instantly kill you – do you think that if McDonalds had a sign over their door that stated “1 in 10″ (for example) of you will drop dead when you eat our burgers – that people would take that risk?

“The best we can do is ensure drugs are of a proper standard, and that people are informed of the side effects. In the case here it can be assumed that many more people have taken this batch of the drug this poor unfortunate man took, with no ill effects.”

Ridiculous Some of the people with that poor chap escaped death, but they were cutting themselves with glass and dancing around the room while he was dying on the floor/ What you are failing to take into account is the effect of these drugs and neither you or anyone else can say how any drug – no matter how safe, that is designed to give you a high, can effect each individual.

If you or anyone here is a recreational drug user then you are pretty much the same as the junkie on O’Connell street, you might dress nicer, you might have a job, a roof over your head a family but make no mistake, when you pass that junkie or when you read about a gruesome murder connected to drugs – they you participated in that because you fund it.

It is but it is regulated, you know what’s in it, you know the guy who sold it to you and you know who and how it was manufactured. You would also have to consume vast quantities of it before you start chewing pavements and start bleeding out all over your sitting room floor while you mate has a cardiac arrest on the floor. The effects of alcohol are well documented, the effects of 2CB are not especially when mixed with God knows what other poison. You take these tabs and it’s Russian roulette. The message to kids is simple. They either heed it or risk dying.

Drugs are drugs at the end of the day, even if regulated people will still abuse them much like alcohol which itself is a regulated drug. With your logic head shops must have been perfectly safe because you knew where you were buying from and what you were taking. But be real, is a teenager with a few drinks on him/her going to have a sudden realisation they should check ingredients before taking something theyve been offered? They want it cheap and accessible which is sadly the situation at the moment.

Patlyndo it’s your attitude that is the problem. Are you that naive to think that people will stop taking drugs because of your skewed moral outlook? I mean this line:

“If you or anyone here is a recreational drug user then you are pretty much the same as the junkie on O’Connell street,”

That is exactly the same as saying if you were drunk once you are exactly the same as a homeless drunk alcoholic on the street. Drug taking will never stop.

“Recreational users fund crime, prostitution, and line the pockets of drug dealers”. And recreational banking funds criminals, lining the pockets, to the tune of billions, of global bankers, leading to the financial ruin of people, the loss of homes and the rise of suicide. I can counter any argument you make, but that’s irrelevant. We need to grow up about drugs, stop burying our heads in the sand and realise they will never go away.To think that they will because of some moral imperative is bananas.

Paul FYI alcohol is also a drug. A quite strong and dangerous one actually. Just because something is legal doesnt mean its not a drug or that it doesnt kill.
So please keep your hypocrisy to yourself because I guarantee that you have taken this drug on multiple occasions.

If we legalised and controlled drugs, this kind of thing would be less likely to happen. Rest in peace kid, I hope whoever gave you this garbage gets what they deserve.

Have to feel sorry for this kids family who must be overwhelmed with grief and hope all the other youngsters who took this stuff without realising what it was pull through.
Legalise and regulate ALL drugs so this never happens ever again.
RIP Alex and condolences to all family and friends.

Aspirin and Paracetamol are drugs Paul

exactly the same way we regulate alcohol , there were about 750 deaths in new york in 1926 alone, including thousands sickened during the period from methanol poisoning , another case of an already dangerous drug being poorly manufactured and supplied with no standards

“Drug user are saying regulate and educate”.

I don’t use drugs and am saying regulate and educate (as well as decriminalise).

You regulate highly dangerous illegal narcotics the same way any other highly dangerous legal narcotics are regulated in Ireland.

Alcohol can kill you yet we regulate it. I would guess that the regulation of ecstasy, MDMA, cocaine etc. would reduce (and possibly eliminate) the demand for these new and unknown synthetic drugs. But let’s face it, it aint ever gonna happen with our ultra-conservative politicians.

Paddy.. For the most part the stereotypes of drug users rabidly trying to score any possible high they can are scaremongering. Most recreational drug users are like stout drinkers and don’t like changing strain of their chosen drug let alone switching to a completely new drug. Addicts are usually addicted to one particular drug* and while they might try to relieve cravings by scoring another its not what their body craves. Nobody I know would choose synthetics over the real deal. Now there are a group called psychonauts who love the thrill of taking a mystery powder and seeing what it does but lets face it they get exactly what they deserve when it goes wrong. * often alcohol is additional problem but for this particular conversation I won’t classify it as a drug.

rasputin..that was a very interesting comment and a good insight. I just cant see any country not to mind Ireland making waves by legalising heroin, coke, lsd, mdma and the likes. maybe marajuana. People go on and on about the alcohol comparison and alcohol is no doubt dangerous but if alcohol was discovered in this day and age there is no way a goverment would legalise it. Its a harsh truth

I know people have a fear of legalising what they see as hard drugs and tbh I don’t think anyone is arguing for their sale besides cigarettes in your local Supervalue.Leaving out LSD and MDMA which technically fall into the soft drug category whats being argued for is giving doctors permission to assess a patient as an addict and prescribe pharmaceutical grades of their preferred drug without additives of other nasty surprises. Possession by or supply to an unauthorized person would still remain a crime but by taking a very large chunk of the market out of the hands of dealers they would soon become extinct with the bonus of now having an addict in the hands of a health care professional where options can be discussed without the addict fearing that their drug supply will suddenly stop. Believe me ,as a semi recovering alcoholic , the greatest obstacle to treatment is the fear of being cut off. Softer drugs like lsd, MDMA and yes even my beloved weed could then only be sold by authorised merchants who’ve undergone similar training to chemists assistants and who can explain the nature of the drug and what negative symptoms to watch out for in the same way as when you buy codine for example. Nobody’s suggesting an unregulated free for all but by Christ we need to do something.

@Rasputin- Well said, very well said. I really hope things start moving in this direction, even if not in the next few years at least it’s almost inevitable when our generation are the ageing farts in power.

Paddy, you need to look at Portugal, decriminialisation across the board with great results. Drugs are here to stay, but the dodgy drugs are overtaking the safe ones because they are cheaper to make. This is because law enforcement make it harder to get the raw materials to make a drug like MDMA. In a list of the top 20 most harmful drugs, which judges on both harm to the user and others, alcohol was the most dangerous, over heroin. Ecstasy was 17th. Across the board MDMA has been deemed to be safe, but public opinion isn’t ready for that yet. Thousands of people take it in this country every weekend, with zero ill effects. People are doing it right now, safely. It becomes unsafe when new drugs that haven’t been tested are used.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6qPrO00oPnZRmRTX2lxOEx3UmFrcjBXbkFUbzg5UEZHN25J/edit?pref=2&pli=1

Our current system of prohibition is not working. Consistently, year by year, we’ve had an increase in the amount of deaths caused by drug use. The amount of deaths caused by drug use in 2004 was 431 while in 2011, it was 607. Which is an increase of 40%. While in Portugal, the decriminalization of drugs led to a sharp decrease in the amount of drug related deaths from 80 in 2001 to 16 in 2012. Portugal now has the lowest rate of drug addiction in the EU, when before decriminalization, 1% of their population was on heroin. Which is 104 thousand people.

Great point. . Does it mean that additonal charges can follow???

I do. But in the mean while he can still peddle his drugs. The guy should in remand not loose.