Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
DYING FOR A HIT..
Male fatalities up 98% in a decade Cops target gangs and paramilitaries
THE extent of Northern Ireland’s drug problem has been laid bare in new figures released yesterday.
Male deaths linked to their abuse have risen by 98% in the last 10 years while deaths connected to prescription drugs are on the rise.
Police said they are actively targeting criminal gangs, including paramilitaries involved in distribution and extortion.
Among the most startling figures include how epilepsy drug Pregabalin (Lyrica) is linked to four times more deaths in 2017 compared to the previous year.
In 2012, the drug was registered just once while by 2016 it had risen to eight times. The following year it had increased to 33.
Coroner Joe Mccrisken warned he is regularly dealing with fatalities where a number of drugs have been taken as opposed to single-drug deaths.
He said: “Taking prescription drugs that aren’t prescribed for you isn’t safe, no matter what you think you know about them.
“No matter what Google has told you, no matter what your friends have told you – if a GP doesn’t prescribe the drug then you shouldn’t take it.
“Taking lots of different drugs and substances increases the risk even more.
“Poly drug misuse is on the increase and it has been for the last number of years. We regularly see six or seven drugs plus alcohol on death certificates.
“It has become more concerning.” The new figures, covering a tenyear period, were released by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency yesterday.
From 16,036 recorded deaths in 2017, 136 were drug related – up from 86 people documented in 2007.
More than three quarters (81%) of drug-related deaths were classed as drug-misuse deaths, compared to 56% in 2007.
Prescription anxiety pill Diazepam was present in 40% of all drug-related deaths in 2017, compared with 24% a decade earlier.
Speaking yesterday, police said there are around 90 organised crime groups in Northern Ireland, with two thirds involved in the supply of controlled drugs.
Det Supt Bobby Singleton told the Mirror the figures reflected police’s concerns around a “growing problem” of drug misuse.
He added: “The PSNI are absolutely committed to tackling drugs within our communities.
“It’s a priority for communities across Northern Ireland, and as a consequence a priority for us.
“Our number of seizures and our number of arrests have increased year on year over the last number of years. In addition to that we’re also focused on tackling the organised crime gangs who are behind the importation and distribution of drugs in Northern Ireland. Every organised crime group is of concern to the PSNI.
“We have about 90 organised crime gangs at the minute that we’re actively engaged in managing in Northern Ireland. About 75% of those groups we would say are directly or indirectly involved in the drugs trade. Directly, those that are involved in distributing the drugs, indirectly those that are involved in extorting them for their own criminal gain. We would say somewhere between 20% and 25% of those gangs would have a paramilitary dimension to them.
“That might be direct paramilitary involvement in terms of importation and distribution of drugs but it also extends to those groups that are involved in extorting other organised crime gangs.”