Drugs Task Forces funding
A Chara,
As an anti-drug activist in Dublin City I must commend Michael Pierse for highlighting the drugs issue again (An Phoblacht, 5 August).
Sinn Féin's Daithí Doolan commented that the task forces had a positive impact. While this may be true for all those who got funding, the real issues of supply and demand have never been seriously tackled. The task forces only resulted in the following.
Bringing together a group of people to develop a plan, fund proposals and develop services in the areas that were never funded before.
The second issue brought the main anti-drugs/community reps to the table in order to neutralise the growing anti-drugs street campaign against those who sell drugs in our communities.
While the task forces have been running for a number of years, the drug supply problem is worse than ever. Voluntary agencies have lapped up the huge amounts of funding available while the statutory agencies have happily contained the problems in working-class areas. The task forces are in real danger of becoming completely isolated from the communities they were set up to help. It is only in hindsight that this lesson has been learned.
Dublin's South Inner City is the worst-affected area for drug abuse in the State. The area has received roughly £2 million in task force funding. What this has achieved is yet to be seen. What we do know is that this and the government's policy on drug dealing has had no effect on the open drug dealing in all working-class areas of this city.
ti-Drugs Activist,
South Inner City,
Dublin.
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)