Former ministers of State who have overseen the National Drugs Strategy will today warn that the partnership delivering the plan is “in danger of collapse” because powers are being centralised under the HSE. Nine former ministers of State with responsibility for the National Drugs Strategy have put their name to a statement which is being made today at a CityWide Drugs Crisis Campaign event in Dublin, in which they warn that grassroots stakeholders are losing their authority. Mr Rabbitte said that every successive government has reaffirmed National Drugs Strategy’s partnership approach since the plan’s adoption by the state in 1996. Dr Aileen O’Gorman of The University of the West of Scotland, who will speak at the same event, said community drugs services have “a long and impressive tradition of responding to the needs of people experiencing drug-related harms in their communities”. “On a daily basis, they work with people with multiple interdependent needs — a legacy of unmet needs by the State.

Source: Irish Examiner October 30, 2019 07:18 UTC