The latest statistics revealed by the Cornmarket Project in Wexford highlighted a startling surge in the level of homelessness amongst clients availing of the rehabilitation service.
During a press briefing facilitated by the County Wexford Drugs and Alcohol Task Force last Thursday afternoon, Co-ordinator of the Cornmarket Project Paul Delaney stated that the most “prominent feature” of the current climate is the “dramatic increase in homelessness”.
In 2010 the service recorded that six of its clients were homeless.
However, to date this year a startling 27 individuals presenting for treatment for drug and/or alcohol addictions had no fixed accommodation.
“While it is certainly not unique, because there is a general crisis throughout the country, it is a shocking statistic for a relatively small town like Wexford,” said Mr Delaney.
The co-ordinator continued: “The reality is if someone does not have a roof over their head, it can only compound the on-going issue of drug misuse.”
He added that it is particularly important for individuals who are actively engaged in rehabilitation as well as those who have just recently completed treatment to have suitable accommodation.
“It is a necessity, if we are to ensure that they are not tempted to return to drug misuse. Many who do not have a place to go will come up against the same set of circumstances.”
The root of the problem, it is claimed, is the reduction in resources for agencies engaged in the treatment of drugs and alcohol misuse. The figure for these cuts right across the board stands at approximately 37%.
Mr Delaney indicated that “as we begin to see green shoots of recovery” it is important that the government seeks to address the reversal of these cuts, which is having a devastating social implication.
The task force estimates that for every €1 spent on tackling drug misuse the government receives a €3 dividend, which furthers its claim that cutting back on services of this nature is a “false economy”.
The Cornmarket Project specifically has incurred cuts in its annual budget to the tune of 25% since the beginning of the recession, the implications of which it is claimed are only becoming apparent now six or seven years later.
“It takes time for people to get to a stage of dysfunction so essentially the problems are feeding through now,” said Mr Delaney.
It is also believed that the emergence of head shops for a brief interlude is to account for a significant number of “new drug users” presenting for treatment. These clients state that they experimented with legal highs, but would not have been inclined to try recreational drugs had they otherwise been illegal.
The Cornmarket Project receives a total of €202,000 from the Probation Service and in turn treat 195 offenders annually.
It costs €70,000 a year to hold a person in prison, however it costs €1,800 annually for an individual to attend the Cornmarket Project.
The organisation is also allocated €148,000 through the HSE under the National Drugs Strategy.
However, Chairperson of the County Wexford Drugs and Alcohol Task Force Declan MacPartlan indicated that until this figure was significantly increased it would be impossible to deliver the level of service including a dedicated step-down programme, which is needed throughout the county.
Citing three recent tragic deaths connected with drugs misuse in his home village of Ferns as an impetus for change, he highlighted that it is “depressing to see how little of the National Drugs Strategy has been fulfilled since it was published in 2009”.
The former independent county councillor also described the decision to abolish the role of the designated Minister for Drugs in place of a Minister with combined responsibility for health and drugs as a “bad signal from government”.
Similarly, fellow member of the committee steering the task force Paul Goff from the HSE agreed, “Resources are an issue”.
He also revealed that there is a “pecking order within service provision” and suggested that it is “very hard to put a figure on the true effects which drugs are having on society”.