Report to show drug trade has spread throughout State

A major drug report to be published today will show the extent to which the Republic's estimated €1 billion-plus annual drug trade has spread to every corner of the State.

The report is expected to show that heroin, cocaine and even crack cocaine have now spread into regions which have previously only been affected by so-called "soft" drugs such as ecstasy and cannabis.

The report, the first to examine drug use throughout Ireland, will be officially launched in Dundalk by Mr Noel Ahern, the Minister of State at the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, which has responsibility for the implementation of the National Drugs Strategy.

The data to be published will concentrate on drug prevalence rates for all illegal drugs on a lifetime, "last year" and "last month" basis for each health board in the Republic and each health and social services board in Northern Ireland.

The 2002/2003 Drug Prevalence Survey was commissioned jointly by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs in the Republic and the Drug and Alcohol Information and Research Unit in the North.

Up until now, the extent of the drug problem in the Republic has been measured using statistics from drug treatment facilities around the State.

This has shown that around 14,000 heroin users are in treatment in Dublin with another 2,000 in treatment in the regions.

However, because the majority of drug-users never seek treatment, the prevalence of drugs other than heroin has never been known.

The report comes at a time when the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, has expressed concern at the link between increasing gun crime and drug gangs.

Plans are being prepared to introduce a gun amnesty and to provide for tougher sentences for those convicted of firearms offences.

On Saturday, the Minister told The Irish Times that the criminal justice system must adopt a "hugely antagonistic" approach to gun crime.

On the same day there was another gangland murder in Dublin.

Also at the weekend, heroin with an estimated street value of €2 million was seized in Baldoyle, Dublin, while gardaí seized a handgun and ammunition in Coolock from the home of an 18-year-old.

Last year more than €100 million worth of illegal drugs were seized by gardaí compared with €49 million in 2002. While senior Garda sources say it is impossible to gauge the value of the drug trade in Ireland, it is accepted internationally that police forces seize around 10 per cent of illegal drugs on the market.

This means the State's drug trade would be worth around €1 billion.

As well as the Garda National Drugs Unit, which targets the supply of drugs, the Government has sought to tackle the drug issue via the National Drugs Strategy 2001-2008, which has been in place since May 2001.