Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
HOMELESS DRUG FEARS
Cllr’s concern over heroin-linked overdoses
A COUNCILLOR has expressed fears for homeless people after reports of up to eight drug overdoses on one night.
Heroin has been linked to the series of incidents in Belfast last Thursday.
Although none resulted in a loss of life there have been calls for a quicker response to what has been described as a “citywide epidemic”. Councillor Paul Mccusker works with homeless people and described the problem as “serious”.
The SDLP representative said: “Every day I receive calls from those who are using drugs crying out for help.
“Quite often, once referred to a service, they could wait more than six weeks and if you are using heroin and want help it could take seven months which is outrageous.
“I call on the Department of Health and Public Health Agency to make it clear how serious the problem is and put an urgent action plan in place.”
Cllr Mccusker claimed services have “lost control” in dealing with drug-related problems. He added: “The increase in those using drugs and suffering from an addiction isn’t solely within the homeless community but affects every single community in Belfast and across Northern Ireland.
“We need to continually talk about it without fear, provide hope for the addict and lobby until we see some clear action from the agencies responsible.”