Youths attending a specialist addiction treatment centre have reported an increasing trend of gangs who bully, threaten and intimidate.
The latest annual report of the HSE’s Adolescent Addiction Service said the prevalence of such thugs, which involved both males and females, was “an emerging and worrying feature” of youth activity in some communities.
The report claimed service users reporting gang members would force other young people to kiss their shoes or the ground in order to let them pass or pull hats off their head or urinate on them. It said some gangs were also challenging adults including gardai.
Read more: Protestors block Dublin Airport causing major delays
The service, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, provides support and treatment for addiction issues to young people and their families from parts of West Dublin including Ballyfermot, Clondalkin, Palmerston, Lucan and Inchicore.
The report shows 65 per cent of young people attending the service last year came from families where there is some history of alcohol or drug abuse – up from 42 per cent the previous year. The report also recorded a 10 per cent increase in the number of young people referred to the service for treatment for alcohol and drug abuse during 2022.
A total of 53 young people and their families received treatment last year, while it also worked with concerned individuals in relation to two other teenagers who did not attend the service – an increase of five over 2021 levels. The average age of adolescents attending the centre was 15. More than three-quarters were male, while 7 per cent were non-nationals. The overwhelming majority of cases involve cannabis with the drug being used by 98 per cent of teens receiving treatment.
The report found that adolescents had been taking drugs for an average of 17 months before they were referred to the service. It noted that there is “increased tolerance for cannabis use at a societal level” with the drug available in many formats including vapes and edibles.
Report author Denis Murray said social media was having a big impact on the lives of young people in terms of influencing their perspectives of the world and attitudes to sex and sexuality, the role of women in society and other people’s lived experiences. He added: “It is distracting from other areas of life as well as disrupting sleep and exposing young people to bullying, rumour spreading and unrealistic views of the world.”
The service, which is based in Cherry Orchard Hospital, was originally established in response to the heroin crisis of the 1990s when its primary intervention was prescribing methadone to young people.
Mr Murray said 66 per cent of delegates at a conference to mark the service’s 25th anniversary last year had reported that young people with whom they had worked had engaged in substance use before they were 14 years with 21 per cent stating it had begun before the age of 12.
READ MORE:
- Cost of living: Protestor personally affected by eviction ban speaks out
- Social welfare Ireland: Exact date Fuel Allowance to end with payments to resume in September
- Cost of living: Trinity students protest against dining rules at college canteen
'I have no option but to close my small business due to rising costs'
Varadkar declares he is landlord ahead of Government decision to end eviction ban
Sign up to the Dublin Live Newsletter to get all the latest Dublin news straight to your inbox.
