Heroin deaths 'at same rate' as road fatalities

Deaths from heroin are now at a similar level to those from car crashes in the Dublin region, the Labour Party said today.

According to party spokesperson on health Ms Liz McManus, figures obtained from the Minister for Health in reply to a parliamentary question "show heroin abuse continues to be a significant cause of death in the Dublin area and emphasise the need for renewed efforts to cut off supply and to reduce demand among addicts."

Mr Martin's reply said the number of opiate-related deaths in Dublin over the four-year period between 1997 and 2000 was 233. Over the same period 238 people were killed in traffic crashes in the region.

"These  figures will come as a shock to anyone who believed that the heroin problem was under control, Ms McManus said. "It shows that we still have a huge drugs problem and new, targeted measures are required to reduce both drug demand and supply."

She added: "This is happening at a time when tremendous work achieved in the early years by the  Local  Drugs Task Forces is being eroded by a  combination of penny-pinching and bureaucratic obstruction of projects."