Crack cocaine in the Dublin region - Health Research Board

Information from Operation Plaza and crack users participating in this study suggestedthat crack cocaine had been supplied by a small number of dealers based mainly in thecity centre. These limited sources of supply may have contributed to a relatively stablehigh price. The price of crack may be a key factor in relation to any potential escalationin its use.10.5 Arrest referral: diverting users into treatmentA number of Irish studies have shown the strong correlation between drug-treatmentand crime reduction (Connolly 2006a; Cox et al. 2006). The establishment of arrestreferral schemes is viewed as an important means of diverting drug users intotreatment at their first point of contact with the criminal justice system – the Gardastation. Action 13 of the National Drugs Strategy 2001–2008 obliges An Garda Síochána‘To monitor the efficacy of the existing arrest referral schemes and expand them, asappropriate’. A report on a pilot arrest referral scheme in Dublin’s north-inner cityraised a number of questions about the efficacy of the model being applied (North EastInner City Drugs Task Force 2005).The north-inner city pilot scheme involves cooperation between the outreach servicesof the Health Service Executive Northern Area, An Garda Síochána North CentralDivision and the local drugs task force. Participation in the scheme is completelyvoluntary for arrestees and does not interfere with the normal processing of thecriminal justice system. The initial take-up of the scheme was low. The report providesdata for juveniles arrested in the North Central Division stations of Store Street,Mountjoy, the Bridewell and Fitzgibbon Street between May and September 2003. Ofthe 214 arrestees, 167 were male. Only 14 (6.5%) of these arrests were made under theMisuse of Drugs Act (MDA) 1977.The take-up rate for the scheme is reported as ‘quite low’, with only a small numberof individuals referred to the health services. The report acknowledges that manyyoung arrestees will not see their drug use as problematic but rather as ‘dabbling’ or‘recreational’ and will therefore not seek help. Also, the low number of MDA-relatedarrests leads the authors to question whether the scheme should be broadened to alljuvenile arrestees regardless of their offence within appropriate qualifications.Data from the NDTRS also suggests a low referral rate of drug users from criminaljustice agencies to the health services. Between 2004 and 2006 only a small number ofcrack users (six) were directed into drug-treatment by the criminal justice system (Table10.1). It is not possible to determine from the data the proportion of those people whowere referred to treatment by the respective criminal justice agencies, the gardaí, theprobation service or the courts.Crack cocaine in the Dublin region: an evidence base for a crack cocaine strategy105