War on drugs
Thursday, 28 January 2010
A new lobby group has been set up to tackle the "scourge" of drug abuse in Ballymena following a packed public meeting in the Braid last week.
Chaired by Irish Congress of Trade Unions assistant general secretary Peter Bunting, the meeting heard harrowing stories from relatives of victims who had died as a result of substance addiction.
Police last week said they would be relentless in their pursuit of drugs criminals and are to personally visit repeat offenders warning them they would be pursued "24 hours a day."
Inspector Pete Bouma said police were willing to give offenders a chance to mend their ways but added: "Take it or face the consequences."
At the Braid meeting, there were calls for more resources to be ploughed into helping to combat the ready availability of heroin and other Class A drugs in the Ballymena area.
Trish Cathcart from the HOPE Centre, a support network for drug addicts, revealed the centre cared for over 400 people in the Northern Trust area who were trying to deal with the fall out from addiction.
PUP representative Ken Wilkinson said he was not at the meeting as a politician but as an activist.
“I have a great admiration for the people at the HOPE Centre but society needs to wake up.
“The problem will still be here tomorrow. As a society we have to speak out."
North Antrim Sinn Fein MLA Daithi McKay said it was imperative the issue was tackled head on.
“We've all been talking about the big drugs problem in Ballymena.
“I think that it's amazing that anyone can dispute this," he added.
“The drugs problem in Ballymena affects everybody; it affects the whole community."
Ballymena Borough Council issued a statement saying it stood ready to work with all the statutory agencies dealing with the problem and had already allocated upwards of £80,000 to fund outreach programmes.
Ulster Unionist mayor councillor James Currie, who was unable to attend the meeting due to another function at the Braid, was heavily criticised for stating on radio that the drugs problem in Ballymena was no better or worse than anywhere else in Northern Ireland.
Area PSNI commander Ryan Henderson was challenged on police efforts to catch and deal with drug dealers. One member of the public asked:
“Why can you not arrest the dealers when even the dogs in the street know who they are?"
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