A man who had sought help several times for drink and drug addiction died after injecting heroin in the toilet of a city shopping centre.
Details of Vincent O’Brien’s death emerged at Cork City Coroner’s Court yesterday after the drugs minister, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, said heroin addicts should be allowed to legally inject in a medically supervised setting.
One of the victim’s local TDs, Sinn Féin’s Jonathan O’Brien, backed Mr Ó Ríordáin last night and urged him to introduce injecting rooms soon.
“This would be a welcome public health initiative as current health and drugs policy has not stopped people injecting or taking drugs so we need to make sure that they do this in a safe and supervised environment where they can access the medical and social care they need,” he said.
“It is not good enough to simply allow people to overdose down laneways. We have a responsibility to try to address the needs of those affected by addiction.”
Source: Eoin English, Irish Examiner, 08/05/15
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