Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Poison of discarded pills could claim a child’s life
Cllr’s fury as drugs left near play park
A CHILD could die from taking drugs dropped on the street, a councillor warned yesterday.
In recent days parents in West Belfast found two bags of tablets in areas where their youngsters play.
Collin Sinn Fein representative Daniel Baker is calling for more to be done to stop dealers preying on the young following a rise in activity over the past year.
He told the Mirror: “They are poison and are not welcome in our communities at all.”
A bag of pills – thought to be Tramadol – and white powder suspected to be MDMA or cocaine were given to Mr Baker after being found on the ground on Summerhill Walk and Lagmore.
He said: “What’s really worrying for parents is there are very young kids living there.
“If one had taken a tablet we could be seeing a dead baby – that’s a real concern.
“It’s widespread across Belfast, but in Collin we are seeing an increase in these packets, whether they are empty or full. And when we come across the full packets, it really worries parents because of where they are being found.
“We are talking outside play parks, inside play parks and in streets where kids are playing.
“There are a lot of community clean-ups and we have been finding packets which have been dropped by whoever has bought them or whoever is selling them.
“Then yesterday morning about 20 tablets [were found]. I think they are Tramadol.
“That’s the biggest quantity in one packet so I suspect it was someone who was dealing them.”
Mr Baker said residents have seen an increase in activity in the spot where the pills were found.
He added: “Something is going on and this probably confirms drug activity.
“They said youths have been gathering there and there was comings and goings and suspected that all was not as it seemed. Then that bag was found.”
The Collin representative said the pills have been disposed of in a drug bin and he will be notifying police. The powder found in Lagmore by another concerned parent was on the ground outside a house where children live.
Mr Baker said: “We suspect when we find the powdery stuff it’s that MDMA or cocaine.
“It was found by a mum on the way back in from dropping the kids off. It was just sitting on the pathway.
“We don’t know what age group is taking these tablets or this powder but I suspect it is a younger age group and it really worries me.
“I personally am seeing a trend where kids are getting younger and younger who are taking this.
“It leads them into a life of addiction and down a very slippery slope. Lives are being lost here to drugs.”
The councillor added the community is doing all it can to prevent children stumbling across drugs and paraphernalia, but they can’t tackle it alone.
Mr Baker said: “From last summer we have seen a trend of empty packets lying about so we started to put a focus on them and tell residents to keep an eye out and tell us.
“It just takes one child to take one of these and we would have a complete tragedy on our hands – never mind the wider stuff of the demand for these prescription drugs in our community. “Our youths who are being exploited for financial gain.
“I want agencies to step in to prevent this and make it very difficult for people trying to sell drugs and be there for our kids who end up being sucked into that world.
“We need to stop the demand and we need to make it very difficult for them to be coming into our communities.
“People need to wise up and stop taking these tablets, it’s so dangerous.”
Mr Baker also urged locals to be vigilant and if they “spot any of this type of activity” to contact a local representative or police to help put “an end to this”.
If a young kid had taken one we could be seeing a dead baby DANIEL BAKER WEST BELFAST YESTERDAY