Intimidation is one of the most frightening aspects of drug crisis
As a caring society we should all commend the work of the volunteers who get involved in the Family Addiction Support Network (FASN) in Dundalk.
Recently they held an event in town to mark the International Family Support Day, and which was supported by the Gardai as well as civic and religious leaders.
One of the most frightening aspects of the drug crisis which has engulfed many towns and small communities is the intimidation experienced by many families when the drug barons delegate their minnows to knock on doors in search of payment of a drug debt incurred by a member of the family.
That intimidation can take the form of not just verbal threats, but often physical violence, and in some cases attacks on homes.
At the FASN meeting, Supt. Christy Mangan revealed that the Gardai have sat down with families who were being pipe bombed and petrol bombed when they failed to pay up the debt incurred by their children.
In many cases, as the Superintendent pointed out, these families were lovely people, decent and honourable people, whose lives were in total disarray because of this intimidation.
For those who have not experienced that level of intimidation it is not difficult to comprehend the fear that engulfs a household in this situation, for they don’t know when the next knock will come on the door, or a petrol bomb through a window.
In some cases families will go to extreme lengths to raise the money to pay off the debt incurred by their children, even putting themselves in heavy debt, but when they have no more to give they are still threatened by those who are directed from the shadows by the drug barons.
The Gardai do their best to support families and continually urge them to come forward, but in some cases families are so ashamed that their children are taking drugs that they suffer in silence, dreading the next phone call or knock on the door.
For the growing number who see recreational drugs as causing little harm they should be exposed to the sickening fear under which families live because of the drug culture in this town and resolve to do their part by resisting the temptation to fuel that culture.