■ Dublin city centre worst affected by drugs epidemic ■ Figures indicate link between drug crime and theft rates
While major seizures are rare in the city centre, garda crime statistics indicate the supply of drugs into the area is much more concentrated than anywhere else in Ireland.
In fact, the Store Street and Pearse Street sub-districts, which police areas either side of the River Liffey, account for the same amount of recorded drug crime as the next 12 worst areas in Dublin combined.
The data makes grim reading for tourism bodies and will reinforce perceptions that the capital's centre is blighted by the scourge of drug use.
The drug blackspot statistics also reveal problem areas outside the capital, with the Bray sub-district in Co Wicklow and Galway city among the worst affected per head of population.
The data, detailing drug offences for the first six months of the year, was supplied by gardai to the Central Statistics Office.
It covers crimes such as the importation, cultivation or manufacture of drugs, possession of drugs for sale or supply, possession of drugs for personal use, the forging or altering of prescriptions, or obstruction of a garda contrary to the Misuse of Drugs Act.
The Store Street sub-district accounted for 994 drugs offences per 100,000 people, while the Pearse Street sub-district had a rate of 756 drug offences per 100,000 people.
Source: Shane Phelan, Irish Independent, 02/12/15
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