A call for citizens to work with gardai in the fight against drugs and associated crime in their own communities has been made by the Workers' Party of Ireland.
In a policy document, the party described drug crime as "a dagger at the heart of the working class". There was a humane way between vigilante rule and coldly turning away from the misery, it stated.
At a press conference in Dublin yesterday, Mr Sean O Cionnaith, party spokesman on justice, equality and law reform, said: "We have no hesitation saying unless we act collectively with strength and planning that in a few years, if unopposed, it will be the major drug dealers who will carry on or add to this squalid tradition."
The party said that, regardless of class, addiction always ravaged and cheapened a person and destroyed a family. Only among the working class did it take hold so powerfully that it ruined the quality of life of the community.
Mr O Cionnaith said drug capitalists flooded deprived places, including jails, with their killer products because their market was the need for escapism and was born of hopelessness.
"There is a golden rule if you want to play your part as a lawful and successful movement against drugs and the widespread anti-social crime that goes with drugs, from the muggings to the murders: work with the gardai," he said.
Policing was not a matter only for the gardai. It was a matter for every citizen whose duty it was to back the gardai on this crisis, quietly, patiently and by keeping in touch with gardai, who knew best how to hit the godfathers where it hurt, Mr O Cionnaith stated.
The policy document listed five recommendations. It was harder for a young person to say no to drugs if they had so little to say yes to, it noted. Spending on education must soar and a structured path to third-level education be put in place.
Spending must be substantially increased on Garda anti-drug staffing and resources. The citizens must do their job, communities must band with the gardai if there was to be success, it said. The document also called for stiff jail sentences, stating that any person convicted of having drugs worth more than £20,000 must be subject to the maximum 20 years.
Rehabilitation, especially in jails, should be put at the top of the agenda and finally, it suggests smart working-class communities would see it was not in their interests to take on the "not in my back yard" attitude to treatment and treatment centres in their areas.
Mr O Cionnaith said the Ballymun Drugs Task Force had worked because of commitment by the community, gardai, clergy and social workers.