Cork St ahead in fight against drugs

By Anthony Quinn

A NEW drug rehabilitation centre has opened on Cork Street, becoming the second to open in the locality in the last few months.

The new centre is a part of the Coolmine therapeutic community, who use an AA approach to drugs rehabilitation. Their centres are based on a drug-free ethos and on the principle of self-help. This means that the person takes an active role in their own recovery.

There are currently seven people attending the day programme offered by the new centre. When in full operation, there will be fifteen to twenty people attending the centre. Founded in 1973, Coolmine is grant funded by the Eastern Health Board. The Cork St day centre will be their fourth premises.

Two of their other centres, in Clonee and Coolmine, offer residential programmes. The Coolmine headquarters is on Lord Edward Street, where counselling, initial contact and induction into their programmes take place.

Coolmine also reaches out into the wider community through its Coolmine Together Against Drugs Programme, and have established over 50 community groups to fight against drugs. Other services include a self-help group for parents which aims to assist people whose son or daughter is becoming involved with drugs.

They also help parents of addicts to motivate them to accept treatment and rehabilitation. Brú Chaoimhín, the second centre on Cork Street, is a methadone clinic. There are currently 28 people attending the centre, which opened just before Christmas.

According to Charlie Hammond of the Cork Street and Mary Land Residents Association, Brú Chaoimhín is "working out very well." Coolmine representatives met with inner city groups and got their permission before opening their new centre. Tom McGarry of Coolmine says that methadone treatment for drug addiction "is just stabilisation; it is still dependency on a drug".

The Coolmine approach relies on total withdrawal from all drugs. This is "essential, but is only a first step in tackling drug addiction and other underlying problems".