Abuse of prescription drugs in Drogheda is said to be reaching epidemic proportions, with some estates in the town 'awash with any kind of legal high you could want'.
The misuse of painkillers and antidepressants like Xanax, Ponstan and Valium is on the increase – across all socio-economic backgrounds – with some admitting to taking up to 30 in one day, along with alcohol, for a cheap high.
'People have always abused prescription drugs, but there has never been so many available on the streets on both sides of Drogheda before,' said a young woman, who is recovering from a 15 Valium-a-day habit.
' They are being sold by people who get them from their doctors and don't use them, so think they will make some money passing them on, or else they are being bought in bulk from the Internet and sold by the ' tray'.
Nicola Coffey from the Connect Family Centre in Moneymore has recently been trained in Women in Addiction to help locals cope with stressful situations without drugs.
' This is happening all across the town, and we see parents starting to use the likes of Valium or Xanax as a coping mechanism, maybe to numb them from everyday life, or an abusive relationship, and next thing they are taking ten in one evening with alcohol, and that can make them very aggressive,' she told the Drogheda Independent.
' This is women and men of all ages, and there is a high problem with low self esteem, so we are trying to get to the root of the problem.'
Five-hundred-and-twenty people died nationally last year from misuse of drugs that can be readily prescribed by GPs.
The Louth Community Drug and Alcohol Team in Stockwell Street is also seeing a rise in the number of people seeking treatment for addiction to over-the-counter or prescription drugs.
'Some people start on Solpadeine or low doses of Xanax or Valium, which can all be highly addictive, although others are using them along with heroin and cocaine,' said a spokeswoman.
'It is much easier to get these drugs from a GP, although a lot are available on the street, and even though there is legislation for GPs for best practice in prescribing these, there is a greater chance of over-prescribing not being investigated in affluent areas.' 'I'm 20 – when I was 14 I started on all the Es and coke – all the upper drugs really. It was supposed to be a bit of fun at the start, then I started selling the Es to make a bit of money.
'I moved on to taking Speed – it was kind of at the weekend – and I'd be at school during the week. Then it got to the stage where you got to school on a Monday and you'd be wrecked, and just waiting for Friday to come around again.
' Then one morning, I just woke up and said 'no, I'm just fed up of the whole not-sleeping, not-eating thing'. My body was just going to shut down. My jaws were sinking, I was getting so skinny, I couldn't put on weight at all and people were noticing the change.
'When I gave up the Es and coke, I didn't have the need to do it again – that left me completely.
Source: Alison Comyn, Drogheda Independent, 19/09/12
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