Pubdate: Sun, 16 Dec 2007 Source: Sunday Business Post (Ireland) Copyright: 2007 The Sunday Business Post Contact: http://www.sbpost.ie/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/577 Author: Nicola Cooke Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) COCAINE TREATMENT CENTRE FOR DUBLIN'S DOCKLANDS A new centre to treat cocaine users will open in Dublin by early February, most likely near the International Financial Services Centre or in the south docklands. A second cocaine clinic will open later next year in one of Dublin's suburbs - possibly on the southside of the city -while extra services are to be made available for cocaine users at Arbour House in St Finbarr's Hospital, Cork in spring next year. The new and increased services are part of a renewed emphasis on dealing with the use of cocaine and multiple drugs under the government's national drugs strategy. The first cocaine-specific drop-in centre opened in Galway city last June, but demand for services has not been as high as the health authorities expected. As a result, a major public awareness campaign about the dangers of drug use will be launched in January. It will involve radio and newspaper advertising, interactive digital media services, outdoor advertising on buses and billboards, and indoor advertising in the bathrooms of bars and night clubs. Pat Carey, the Minister of State with responsibility for drugs strategy, said recent meetings he had about the drugs problem highlighted the fact that people were not seeking out the services, which meant the drug users themselves "should be sought out instead". "I have been in a lot of meetings about the drugs issue recently, and from the medical perspective, there is an opinion that it is necessary to go out and actively seek those users who don't regard themselves as addicts," Carey said. "We will be targeting workplaces and social venues with a high-profile information campaign. We want to trigger the message about the dangers of drugs use in a variety of ways - which will actually reach these people or is easily accessible to them - and a media strategy will form part of that too." Meanwhile, private treatment centres are starting to run seminars for employers who may need to deal with the problem of drugs affecting their employees' performance. Forest, a privately-owned centre in Wicklow, is running a seminar next month to give employers the skills to have a discussion with an employee they suspect of having a drug problem. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake