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LAST UPDATE | 20 Jun 2024
A SENATOR HAS described helping a woman she suspected was experiencing an overdose in Dublin recently.
Senator Lynn Ruane told the Oireachtas Drugs Use Committee, of which she is the vice-chairperson, that the experience was “really horrible”.
“The other day, it was about a week and a half ago now, I encountered a potential, suspected overdose.”
Ruane, a longtime advocate for the rights of people with addiction issues, said she is “used to overdoses”, but this was different.
“I’ve dealt with them many, many, many times, but I was definitely not used to the on-street experience.
I have to say, the experience was really actually difficult because nobody even wanted to help me put her in a recovery position. They didn’t even want to touch the girl. It was really, really horrible.
Ruane said another woman eventually helped “keep her up straight” while someone working in a nearby shop called an ambulance.
The independent senator made the comments as part of a wider discussion on supports available to people who overdose.
Powerful opioids such as nitazene have caused several overdoses in Ireland in the last year, including a death in Ennis earlier this month.
The HSE has significantly increased the availability of naloxone, a prescription-only medication that is used as an antidote to temporarily reverse the effects of opioid drugs like heroin, and synthetic opioids if someone overdoses.
A number of committee members said naloxone should be even more widely available in locations such as pharmacies – something the HSE is currently looking into.
Ruane said she isn’t sure if nitazene was involved in the case she encountered but, if it was a drug overdose, quick access to naloxone could have made a huge difference.
At the end of today’s hearing, Professor Eamon Keenan, the HSE’s National Clinical Lead on Addiction Services, offered committee members training in how to spot an overdose and administer naloxone.
“We would be happy to offer all the members of the committee training in naloxone, identification of overdose,” he said.
Ruane thanked him, saying it was much appreciated.
Since January 2024, 977 people have been trained in how to administer naloxone. The medication, which can be injected or used via a nasal spray, was administered on 461 occasions last year.
Earlier the committee heard that Ireland’s first medically supervised injecting facility (MSIF) will finally open this year after “a long and torturous process”.
The MSIF will be located at Merchants Quay Ireland in Dublin city centre and, while set to miss the previous deadline of September, is expected to open before the end of the year.
The facility was first signed off on by the then-Government in 2015, but has been beset by planning issues and complaints over the last nine years.
Construction work on the long-awaited facility began earlier this month.
MSIFs are centres where people can inject drugs, obtained elsewhere, under the supervision of trained health professionals. The facilities exist in many countries and are proven to reduce drug-related overdose deaths and reduce the risks of disease transmission through shared needles.
Professor Keenan said the opening of the facility is one of the most significant harm reduction measures being implemented in the coming months.
We’ve been through a process to get that up and running, and that’s been a long and torturous process, but we’re nearly there.
“Building has commenced on the supervised injecting facility, and that’s expected to be open by the end of the year,” Keenan said.
The pilot will be overseen by a monitoring committee and, once it’s open, be evaluated after six months and again after 18 months to determine how well it’s working.
The newly-formed Oireachtas committee, which is tasked with examining how to overhaul Ireland’s approach to drugs, is holding its second meeting today.
The committee was set up to examine the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly (CA) on Drugs Use which has said the State should take a comprehensive health-led policy response to dealing with people who are in possession of drugs for personal use.
Among its 36 recommendations is a proposal that people should be referred to health and addiction services where appropriate, rather than criminalised.
Keenan said the rollout of naloxone and the establishment of the MSIF show that the HSE and the Departments of Health and Justice are already moving towards a more health-led approach to helping people with addiction issues.
The HSE is currently working with An Garda Síochána to set up a programme where gardaí will be “trained in the identification of overdose and the carrying of naloxone, to be able to administer it on the street”, Keenan said.
“I think there’s a very clear approach by the departments to support the health-led approach,” he added.
Martina Queally, Regional Executive Officer of HSE Dublin and South East, told the committee that the opening of the MSIF is one of several “harm reduction” measures being implemented.
Around 23,000 people in Ireland receive treatment for drug related issues every year, she noted.
At the end of April 2024, 11,385 people were on Opioid Agonist Treatment (OAT). There are 85 HSE opioid substitution clinics, more than 300 GPs, and 759
The committee also heard that organised crime gangs are inflicting “intimidation and violence” on communities, while “grooming and coercing vulnerable young people into drug-related criminal activity”.
Ben Ryan, head of the Criminal Justice Policy Function at the Department of Justice, this morning told the committee the department is committed to significantly reducing “the harms caused to families and communities by illicit drug use”.
Ryan said the three main policy objectives in this area are “tackling organised crime, minimising the harms caused to those with addiction issues, and diverting people from involvement in crime and illicit drug related activity”.
He told the committee these issues are “complex and often inter-linked”, so cannot be dealt with in isolation.
For example, a person with an addiction issue may also be involved in the sale and supply of drugs, or have close associations with those involved in organised crime.
“It is well established that organised criminal groups will exploit vulnerable people and coerce or groom them into being involved in criminality.”
Last month legislation came into effect which made it an offence for an adult to force or encourage children to engage in any criminal activity.
Those found guilty of an offence under the Criminal Justice Act 2024 may face imprisonment of up to 12 months on summary conviction and up to five years on indictment.
At the time, Justice Minister Helen McEntee said children as young as seven are being targeted by gangs encouraging them to get involved in crimes such as drug dealing.
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