Sometimes, through fear, ignorance or - it must be said - selfishness, people take up positions that are ultimately damaging to their own interests and to their communities.
That appears to have happened in Castleknock, Co Dublin, and in Arklow, Co Wicklow, where concerned individuals campaigned successfully against the dispensing of methadone to heroin addicts through local pharmacies. By preventing the introduction of this vital drug treatment service they have not only sent a destructive message to recovering addicts but have invited an increase in the level of crime.
A major research project by the National University of Ireland in Maynooth has established the benefits of drug treatment programmes for individuals and their communities. Before treatment, it found that one in three addicts funded their drug habit from crime but, after a year of treatment, this dropped to one in seven. There was a 30 per cent drop in heroin use and more than one-quarter had given up all drugs, other than alcohol. Significant improvements also took place in the physical and mental health of those concerned as they began to make contact with GPs, employment and housing services.
At present, only basic services are provided through the Government-funded treatment programme. An expansion of rehabilitation services is urgently required so that drug addicts can be linked more closely to training, education and other forms of support and so become valued members of the community.
When communities have drug problems - be it the abuse of alcohol, opiates or other stimulants - the best way of responding is through the provision of suitable treatment. Otherwise, trouble is stored up for the individual and for society. Those who oppose the provision of treatment at local level are in denial about the nature of the illness. Addiction is no respecter of class or income levels. While public attention may focus on the homeless and the unemployed, many middle class families are suffering in quiet despair.
The chairman of the National Advisory Committee on Drugs, Des Corrigan, has emphasised the importance of treatment services and the benefits they bring to drug users, their families and the community. The dispensing of methadone should not be seen as a threat but as a benefit to a community, in that it reduces crime rates and drug abuse. Rehabilitation is in everyone's interest. The service has been provided with minimal difficulty at many pharmacies throughout the State. It should be expanded and given support by all the political parties and by the population as a whole.