Derry community worker says the city's drug problem is getting worse
by Marianne Flood
A Derry community worker who handed a bag of ‘skunk’ over to police on Tuesday said the city’s drug problem is getting worse.
Tommy McCourt, manager of the Rosemount Resource Centre, said the marijuana was given to him by a member of the Irish Republican Socialist Party on Monday night.
The Rosemount Resource Centre runs the ‘Time 2 Choose’ programme which helps young people deal with issues surrounding drugs and anti-social behaviour.
It also acts as an intermediary between young people who are under paramilitary threat and the groups at are threatening them.
Mr McCourt said the centre has been a drop off point for drugs finds many times before.
“On occasion we have been handed in drugs that parents come across in their son or daughter’s bedroom and they don’t want to hand it to the police because they don’t want their child getting a criminal record,” he explained.
“We also get drugs handed in to us by organisations who, for whatever reason, do not want to deal with the police.
“It’s not our function to investigate crimes, if it was people wouldn’t hand the drugs in to us.
“We’re just happy to get it off the streets.”
Mr McCourt says drug abuse is becoming an increasingly big problem in the city.
“The size of this drugs find is an indication of the growth of the use of drugs, in particular the heavier class of drugs.
“Heroin has been about in Derry in fairly restricted amounts for a long time but it is definitely becoming more prevalent.
“Prescription drugs like Tramadol are also a massive problem.
“They are crushing them up and taking them. Some of them are quite lethal.”
Time 2 Choose believe that education is vital to tackle the Derry’s drug problem.
“They see drugs as cool and they see being a dealer as cool because they think it gives them a standing in their peer group to be the person that people have to go to,” said Mr McCourt.
“It seems to be mimicking America where dealers become the kingpins of the communities.”
A PSNI spokesperson confirmed ‘a small quantity of a Class B controlled drug was voluntarily handed over to police in the Westway area of the city earlier this week’.