More die from drugs than on roads

BY JOANNE CORCORAN

Dublin grafitti

More people die in Dublin City from drug overdoses than road accidents. Health board figures reveal that 86 people died from drug-related overdoses last year but that two thirds of these deaths were preventable.

In response to these shocking figures, a Dublin GP has initiated an overdose information campaign for drug users. The Dublin Opiate Overdose Reduction Strategy (DOORS) is a multi-faceted approach aimed at reducing the number of deaths occurring from overdoses being spearheaded initially by Ringsend and District Response to Drugs (RDRD). As part of its campaign, the group is planning to produce an information card and an educational video showing how to deal with overdoses.

Sinn Féin representative Daithí Doolan has been involved in the Ringsend group since its foundation in 1996. "When we received the figures showing how many deaths could be prevented, we were astounded," he says. "But even more amazing was the figure that showed more people died from overdosing in 2002 than died in road traffic accidents in 2001 (53). The government has invested nowhere near the amount of money in drugs that it has in road safety, through the penalty points and so on."

To highlight the issue RDRD is producing 10,000 'What to do' leaflets, along with a hard-hitting video, which would chart the death of an addict who could have been saved.

"We'll be distributing the video throughout Dublin, through our own group and also through the Merchants' Quay drugs project, which hands out harm-reduction packages to users already," Doolan adds. "We reckon we will need €50,000 for the project, so we are hoping to receive the funding for it from the government. Europe is beginning to take a big interest in these kind of projects at the moment, and the Irish government is taking EU presidency in January, so we should take this opportunity to set a precedent."