This article is from page 4 of the 2007-12-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
THE Government are to blame for the rampant spread of cocaine throughout Clare, according to north Clare county councillor, Martin Con- eM a OaF
Cllr Conway yesterday blamed the Department of Education for failing to take drugs education seriously in
schools.
“The Government seems to be completely missing the point when it comes to day-to-day education on the dangers of drugs. They are all fo- cused on points instead of the prac- tical things like drug education and road safety,” he said.
“They are so caught up with the whole Catholic Ethos on sex educa-
tion but yet when something is really important, something like this that is actually killing people, it isn’t a proper part of the school cycle.
“I know as a matter of fact that co- caine 1s rampant in north Clare, from Spanish Point all the way up to Bal- lyvaughan. The best we can do 1s ap- peal to the children about it.
“The whole Katy French incident
has focused the minds of everyone on the issue of drugs. Some people may have seen it as something that does not effect their lives, but every parent needs to look into their soul and ask is their child involved with drugs. It all needs to starts at home.”
Cllr Conway has called for a major overhaul of the Department of Edu- cation’s treatment of drugs and for the establishment of a targeted co- caine awareness campaign.
“It is alarming that cocaine use has become fashionable, particularly among the young.
“Cocaine has infiltrated all sec- tors of society, from professionals to young people in school or col- lege. That view must be dispelled by adopting a new approach to Ireland’s erowing drug culture.
“The drug barons and dealers are only interested in making money and do not care about the consequences for those who take drugs.
“We need a two-strand approach involving education and early inter- vention schemes in the community. The Government’s current educa- tional programmes are not working as effectively as they should.
‘There has been no systematic re- view of the effect of public aware- ness campaigns and these must be immediately overhauled.”