Front line community addiction services say they're struggling to cope amidst what they've described, as a "tsunami" of crack cocaine addiction and dealing, in the Tallaght - Whitechurch area of Dublin.
A new report from Tallaght’s Drugs and Alcohol Task Force, reveals a 75% increase in drug related crime since 2018, including intimidation of women by dealers.
The number of people being treated in Task Force projects in Tallaght has doubled in the last ten years which means that there is a growing community of people who have recovered, but front-line staff believe they are only meeting 25% of the true need. One third of those seeking help for crack cocaine addiction are women.
Co-ordinator Grace Hill says the onset of crack cocaine in the last three years means services are now at breaking point.
"Tallaght is a huge area. It's growing all the time. It's seen significant growth in the last 10 years, both in population and deprivation. Drug use has almost doubled."
"Crack cocaine use is on the rise. Some people call it an epidemic. What the sad thing is is we have brilliant community services in our area, that want to respond to the issues that are there. But feel that they can't. The capacity isn't there because the funding isn't there.
Despite escalating needs, the Task Force funds nine front line community addiction projects in the Tallaght/Whitechurch area, had its budget cut from €1.3m in 2010 to just €1.2m this year. TDATF is calling for an additional €1m in government funding to take on more front-line staff to address the crack issue, create more residential addiction, develop more direct interventions for vulnerable young people, and to fund more Gardai on the ground.
The report found that in 2021, the number of people using TDATF services because of crack cocaine addiction was among the highest in the country, and by this year, one third were women. Addiction to crack cocaine is complex and difficult to overcome, with many people using more than one drug at a time, and therefore needs more staff time and support to be overcome.
