Heroin is "one of the greatest social problems in our society at the moment", the Dublin city coroner Dr Brian Farrell said yesterday.
He was speaking after presiding over two inquests involving heroin overdoses yesterday afternoon.
Joseph Fallon (41) was found dead in his rented flat in Walkinstown on May 23rd last year.
Helmut Erbe, a brother-in-law of Mr Fallon's landlady, found the body in the bedsit after his sister-in-law couldn't gain access to the building on Bunting Road.
A spoon, a syringe and brown powder later identified as heroin were found near the body.
Mr Fallon's brother, Richard Fallon, told the Dublin city coroner's court that Joseph had a problem with drugs when he was younger and he had sought help for his addiction.
The second inquest involved the death of a 22-year-old Dublin man from a heroin overdose.
Martin Smith, Ferryman's Crossing, Dublin, was found dead in his bedroom on April 28th last year.
His mother, Martha Smith, told Dr Farrell that she left the house at 8.30am and returned at 4.30pm.
When she went to call her son for his dinner later that evening, she found him slumped in the corner of his bedroom.
The autopsy report found a possible needle injection site at the left elbow. Sgt Thomas Walsh from Store Street Garda station said he found a syringe in the bathroom, close to Mr Smith's bedroom.
Expressing sympathy with Mrs Smith, Dr Farrell said the death of a child must be one of the most painful things a parent would ever have to bear. He pointed out that this was the second case of a heroin overdose in one afternoon. The coroner expressed concern over the scale of the problem.
He recorded a verdict of misadventure in both cases.
