Marlborough Street Junkies

Degsy

Has anybody noticed the huge prolifiration of junkies around the junction of marlborough st/north earl street?This is not just the occasional hangers-round,there were nearly thirty of them yestrday evening and i'v often counted more than one group with ten or more in it.There seems to be open drug dealing going on around this area to attract them in such huge numbers and iu've never seen a cop in the area..

Kiera

Haven’t been up that way in ages but there seems to be loads of them outside Tara Street station every morning for some reason.

Stench Blossoms

Its so bad lately. I put my head down and walk really really fast when i've to walk past there.

Karoma

..Methadone clinic...that is all.

Kiera

Karoma wrote:

..Methadone clinic...that is all.

At Tara street too?

Lux23

Yea there is one around Tara Street. Sure the harm they are doing is to themselves.

Degsy

Lux23 wrote:

Yea there is one around Tara Street. Sure the harm they are doing is to themselves.

They dont mug people at syringe point at all?Silly me..

skywalker

Kiera wrote:

At Tara street too?

Theres one on Pearce st.

Kiera

skywalker wrote:

Theres one on Pearce st.

ah ok, never twigged.

Lux23

Degsy wrote:

They dont mug people at syringe point at all?Silly me..

Sure some do but they don't all do it and they certainly won't do it outside their methadone clinic because if they are seen they won't be allowed on the program anymore. Plus if they are on methadone they are getting free drugs so why would they bother robbing you.

Degsy

Lux23 wrote:

Sure some do but they don't all do it and they certainly won't do it outside their methadone clinic because if they are seen they won't be allowed on the program anymore. Plus if they are on methadone they are getting free drugs so why would they bother robbing you.

Are you on drugs yourself?

The amount they get in the methadone clinic is nothing like the amount a serious junkie needs to stop them going "sick",besides they dont get a "rush" from methadone and they're usually out robbing or mugging the minute they've taken it.What do you think they're all doing hanging around?Discussing how good they feel aftre thier little bit of methadone?

Green_Martian

Lux23 wrote:

Plus if they are on methadone they are getting free drugs so why would they bother robbing you.

Old habits die hard...............

Garibaldi

And, sure, there's a lovely person in every one of them, desperately trying to get out. No, they don't kick in the side of your car, or throw punches/kicks at you, breaking the mirror off your bike, when you disturb them sharing the syringes as you're forced to go past them on your way to work. They're just a bunch of lovable rogues. Did I mention how they're just misunderstood, and a tragic childhood led to their current situation? Gasp! Scumbags??? How dare you call them scumbags!! Why, I'll have the lefty do-gooders on your case faster than you could score a bag of skag on Marlborough Street.

psilocybe

Degsy wrote:

The amount they get in the methadone clinic is nothing like the amount a serious junkie needs to stop them going "sick",besides they dont get a "rush" from methadone and they're usually out robbing or mugging the minute they've taken it.What do you think they're all doing hanging around?Discussing how good they feel aftre thier little bit of methadone?

There is little point in taking heroin while on methadone because its partial antagonist properties will prevent the user from getting high. I think you will find every individual user will have their daily dose tailored to stop them entering withdrawel. Some are on very high doses, over 100mg per day when 40mg is enough to kill a "normal" person.

Lux23

Degsy wrote:

Are you on drugs yourself?

The amount they get in the methadone clinic is nothing like the amount a serious junkie needs to stop them going "sick",besides they dont get a "rush" from methadone and they're usually out robbing or mugging the minute they've taken it.What do you think they're all doing hanging around?Discussing how good they feel aftre thier little bit of methadone?

They are hanging around because they have nothing better to do. They may also be waiting to see their social worker so they stay outside and smoke! Look I don't believe that all junkies are hard done by and had terrible childhoods, they are responsible for their own addictions. But what I don't do is look at one and think he wants to rob me, the same way I don't look at a straight man and think he wants to want rape me.

Degsy

Lux23 wrote:

They are hanging around because they have nothing better to do. They may also be waiting to see their social worker so they stay outside and smoke! Look I don't believe that all junkies are hard done by and had terrible childhoods, they are responsible for their own addictions. But what I don't do is look at one and think he wants to rob me, the same way I don't look at a straight man and think he wants to want rape me.

Well your chances of getting mugged by a junkie are thousands of times higher than by somebody who isnt a drug addict,maybe you need to develop your street smarts a bit!

Lux23

Degsy wrote:

Well your chances of getting mugged by a junkie are thousands of times higher than by somebody who isnt a drug addict,maybe you need to develop your street smarts a bit!

Probably but I have never been a victim of robbery of so far so I think my street smarts are fine. I am just not an alarmist.

xzanti

Degsy wrote:

Are you on drugs yourself?

The amount they get in the methadone clinic is nothing like the amount a serious junkie needs to stop them going "sick",besides they dont get a "rush" from methadone and they're usually out robbing or mugging the minute they've taken it.What do you think they're all doing hanging around?Discussing how good they feel aftre thier little bit of methadone?

Slightly (I thought) funny story... My cousins husband is a nurse in the Mater A&E.. Some scumbag was rushed in one night recently following an overdose of heroin.. when they tried to pump whatever drugs necessary into him to flush him out and save his life, he came round and started protesting that they were "wreckin' his buzz" and tried to pull the drip out of his arm.. :rolleyes:

Sifo

Degsy wrote:

Well your chances of getting mugged by a junkie are thousands of times higher than by somebody who isnt a drug addict,maybe you need to develop your street smarts a bit!

i know a fair bit about junkies, im not one myself but a family member fell into it about 5 years ago along with all his friends and workmates... most heroine addicts are cowards... the type of junkie that your thinking of was a scumbag before the drugs came along...

Sgt. Politeness

xzanti wrote:

Slightly (I thought) funny story... My cousins husband is a nurse in the Mater A&E.. Some scumbag was rushed in one night recently following an overdose of heroin.. when they tried to pump whatever drugs necessary into him to flush him out and save his life, he came round and started protesting that they were "wreckin' his buzz" and tried to pull the drip out of his arm.. :rolleyes:

haha..that is kinda funny.
Junkies eh? Nothing that couldnt be solved by replacing 'methadone clinic' with 'gas chamber'

civdef

Some scumbag was rushed in one night recently following an overdose of heroin.. when they tried to pump whatever drugs necessary into him to flush him out and save his life, he came round and started protesting that they were "wreckin' his buzz" and tried to pull the drip out of his arm..

Apparently this happens quite a lot when Narcan (the drug in question) is administered to reverse opiate overdoses, it takes nearly instant effect, and this has resulted in several paramedics being assaulted by grateful patients.

psilocybe

Sgt. Politeness wrote:

haha..that is kinda funny.
Junkies eh? Nothing that couldnt be solved by replacing 'methadone clinic' with 'gas chamber'

Would you suggest this approach with all drug addicts or just heroin addicts?

kizzyr

Degsy wrote:

Are you on drugs yourself?

The amount they get in the methadone clinic is nothing like the amount a serious junkie needs to stop them going "sick",besides they dont get a "rush" from methadone and they're usually out robbing or mugging the minute they've taken it.What do you think they're all doing hanging around?Discussing how good they feel aftre thier little bit of methadone?

Too true. When I lived in my parents house I used to have to get my bus home from Abbey Street (opposite the now non existant China Showrooms) and there were always loads of junkies hanging around. Some were there for the methadone clinic yes, but others were just their junkie friends and when you were standing there on your own watching them off their heads (no one goes through a bin and throws the rubbish on the street and proceeds to roll around in it unless they are off their heads. Sometimes, especially when I was a young teenageer it used to scare me quite a lot.

Degsy

Sifo wrote:

i know a fair bit about junkies, im not one myself but a family member fell into it about 5 years ago along with all his friends and workmates... most heroine addicts are cowards... the type of junkie that your thinking of was a scumbag before the drugs came along...

ah so there's no need to worry bout some some strung out scumbag sticking you with a dirty syringe because your brother fell into it:rolleyes:

Fajitas!

I'm in college on Thomas street, where there's a LOT of heroin abuse. For me, addy's are fairly intimidating, and I'm a big chap, well able to handle myself. Generally, there's no hassle between the students and the addy's that stay at the back of the college, but I've often seen blood stains on the street etc, or in our Johns Lane studio, seen many a syringe filled with blood hidden by a boiler.

Seeing several people shoot up as your walking down a street is a fairly intimidating sight.

aphex™

Yeah what is the deal with the amount of addicts walking freely around town?
The cops are feckin useless.

One short little ancient one walked past me, stopped, and gave me the "sure i'll see if i can mug this guy" look. I turned around and looked at him just as quick and gave him the oul' "i'm going to **** you under the next lorry if you don't keep on walkin' " look..

And all was well.

Saw one trying to sell a crappy nokia to people at a bus stop. Looked like he snatched it from a 13 year old. I mean nobody was ever going to buy it, so what was the point.

Green_Martian

aphex&#8482 wrote:

One short little ancient one walked past me, stopped, and gave me the "sure i'll see if i can mug this guy" look. I turned around and looked at him just as quick and gave him the oul' "i'm going to **** you under the next lorry if you don't keep on walkin' " look..

And all was well.

LMFAO............:D

Have to say it is very intimidating when you have to walk past a group of them.......cos you never know what might happen

chump

From what I've seen there's been a big increase in the amount of junkies in and around the north inner city. Those streets off Talbot St. particularly so and along the north quays (forget the name of the street), but if ytou have to get a bus there there does be streams of junkies walking by non stop... well trying to walk. It certainly isn't a good sight for any tourists in the area never mind us people who are relatively used to it...

shuushh

that pack of scum have been hanging around that area for years now, there is some sort of a clinic or something down that alley to the left as your walking towards the quays

Saintly

Don't worry about passing the clinics - they are probably the safest spots in Dublin. Nobody is going to risk their programme (which takes forever to get on and tough to stay on - providing clean samples and all that) by mugging some poor unfortunate right in front of the clinic. For the most part, methadone users are trying to straighten things out and at least have the guts to face up to one of the most addictive, crippling drugs out there. Like anywhere, everyone there has their own agenda, some are tossers, most aren't. I've worked with loads of clinic users and have yet to have a problem with anyone.

So don't worry about being mugged while passing the clinics . You're far more likely to get hurt driving past one, having accepted a lift home from some nice middle class chap who a) speeds b) is over the limit c) is coked to the eyeballs

Saintly

Caprisun

im so sick of malborough street being junky cental. every time i get off the bus its the same routine : try to put mp3 in an inner pocket, make sure phone and wallet are unpickpoketalbe, hold breath when turning the corner up to clearys to avoid the smell of piss, keep eyes low so you dont have to make eye contact in order to avoid giving a mixed look of fear and annoyance. 'aaaaaawright luv' no,no im not

Caprisun

Caprisun wrote:

im so sick of malborough street being junky cental. every time i get off the bus its the same routine : try to put mp3 in an inner pocket, make sure phone and wallet are unpickpoketalbe, hold breath when turning the corner up to clearys to avoid the smell of piss, keep eyes low so you dont have to make eye contact in order to avoid giving a mixed look of fear and annoyance. 'aaaaaawright luv' no,no im not

ha, i sound like an overpriveledge tosser, still its annoys me

bounty

Am i bad for wishing someone kills all the junkies one day, in a vigilante rampage Charles Bronson would be proud of?

Chucky the tree

Degsy wrote:

Has anybody noticed the huge prolifiration of junkies around the junction of marlborough st/north earl street?This is not just the occasional hangers-round,there were nearly thirty of them yestrday evening and i'v often counted more than one group with ten or more in it.There seems to be open drug dealing going on around this area to attract them in such huge numbers and iu've never seen a cop in the area..

Your a right girls blouse arent ya? If your not pissing your pants about the "scumbags" on the back of the bus, its the junkies who will rape you and then tourture you to death on marlborough street.

Chances of being mugged there are probaly are slimmer then most other places in town, for various reasons. Myabe if you just pretended they werent there and kept on walking instead of ****ting your pants every time you see them life would be alot more enjoyable for you.

havana

There really are a lot of ars*holes on this site. What do people get out of calling people junkies and scumbags.

Yes- some drug users are w*nkers- but I have met quite a few people who might fit into this category as they head of to work in their suits and Mercs.

I work everyday with drug users- and the majority are decent people- in a **** situation.

Absolutly- someone who commits a crime should be punished for said crime- but treating addiction in a criminal context is not the most effective way.

aphex™

Chucky the tree wrote:

Chances of being mugged there are probaly are slimmer then most other places in town, for various reasons. Myabe if you just pretended they werent there and kept on walking instead of ****ting your pants every time you see them life would be alot more enjoyable for you.

What do you suggest I imagine they are injecting themselves with instead then?

The fact is these people steal to supplement their habit. It was on Prime Time a few weeks ago. They were talking about how they'd rob "One lad on his own" etc.

They should be rounded up, sent to a proper jail where drugs can't be smuggled in and they are given methodone.

Dathai

havana, we like to think of junkies and scum (aptly named) as vermin, a weaker race of human being, one in which is trying to survive by leeching and destroying what has been created in an (almost) decent world.

We class a junkies as a full on heroin/meth addict who steals/commits crime against another human being so they can fulfill their addiction.

Theres a difference between a user and a junky, since you work with them, you should know.

Our man in Havana

bounty wrote:

Am i bad for wishing someone kills all the junkies one day, in a vigilante rampage Charles Bronson would be proud of?

No your not! What would be your weapon of choice?

Chucky the tree

aphex&#8482 wrote:

What do you suggest I imagine they are injecting themselves with instead then?

The fact is these people steal to supplement their habit. It was on Prime Time a few weeks ago. They were talking about how they'd rob "One lad on his own" etc.

They should be rounded up, sent to a proper jail where drugs can't be smuggled in and they are given methodone.

Herion of course, did i say they werent injecting? Some of them mug people and commit crimes, never said they didnt. But they wont do it outside there methadone clinic.

John R

havana wrote:

I work everyday with drug users- and the majority are decent people- in a **** situation.

That they only have themselves to blame for.


They are in a position where they have a very expensive addiction to feed and have fukked themselves up far too much to be able to pay for it through legal means.

This is the point when they inflict a sh1t situation on other people. Other people that have not brought it on themselves. Other people that contribute to society by working, paying taxes, not spending every penny they have lining the pockets of criminal gangs.

Lux23

Saintly wrote:

So don't worry about being mugged while passing the clinics . You're far more likely to get hurt driving past one, having accepted a lift home from some nice middle class chap who a) speeds b) is over the limit c) is coked to the eyeballs

Saintly

Oh so true. I can't believe that in this day in age people think if you are a heroin addict you a scumbag but if you a cokehead you are just a normal human being. Coke is causing far more problems in this city then heroin is at the moment.

Kiera

Lux23 wrote:

Oh so true. I can't believe that in this day in age people think if you are a heroin addict you a scumbag but if you a cokehead you are just a normal human being. Coke is causing far more problems in this city then heroin is at the moment.

But its not! Coke is more rampant but you don’t see people who do coke going out on the streets mugging people or stealing from shops. Heroin users get terrible withdrawal effects and need money to keep on an even keel. Coke addicts don’t get the same withdrawals therefore don’t need to go out robbing for another fix as soon as they come down!

NotInventedHere

Kiera wrote:

But its not! Coke is more rampant but you don’t see people who do coke going out on the streets mugging people or stealing from shops. Heroin users get terrible withdrawal effects and need money to keep on an even keel. Coke addicts don’t get the same withdrawals therefore don’t need to go out robbing for another fix as soon as they come down!

No but coke heads get involved in violent altercations after nightclubs and pubs after mixing it with alcohol. Coke is worse than heroin fact

Kiera

NotInventedHere wrote:

No but coke heads get involved in violent altercations after nightclubs and pubs after mixing it with alcohol. Coke is worse than heroin fact

Yeah actually you’re right about the violence but I still think heroin addicts tend to stoop lower to get what they want.

Lux23

Kiera wrote:

But its not! Coke is more rampant but you don’t see people who do coke going out on the streets mugging people or stealing from shops. Heroin users get terrible withdrawal effects and need money to keep on an even keel. Coke addicts don’t get the same withdrawals therefore don’t need to go out robbing for another fix as soon as they come down!

Well actually keira you do. Go down to Focus Ireland and volunteer and you will meet people who were just like you and me but started using coke and have lost everything. You are just as likely to steal to buy coke then you would junk. They got themselves into their situtations but if it makes people feel better about themselves to call them scumbags and muggers then so be it. Sorry Keira I am not saying that is true of you, its a general thing.

Kiera

Lux23 wrote:

Well actually keira you do. Go down to Focus Ireland and volunteer and you will meet people who were just like you and me but started using coke and have lost everything. You are just as likely to steal to buy coke then you would junk. They got themselves into their situtations but if it makes people feel better about themselves to call them scumbags and muggers then so be it. Sorry Keira I am not saying that is true of you, its a general thing.

Lux23, I’m not saying every heroin addict is a scumbag or mugger. All I’m saying is the really bad ones tend to stoop to a very low level to get what they want. I have seen this first hand from a friends sister and a guy I used to know. They did awful things to get heroin. I also know a lot of people who take coke and would never class them in the same league.

havana

John R wrote:

That they only have themselves to blame for.


They are in a position where they have a very expensive addiction to feed and have fukked themselves up far too much to be able to pay for it through legal means.

This is the point when they inflict a sh1t situation on other people. Other people that have not brought it on themselves. Other people that contribute to society by working, paying taxes, not spending every penny they have lining the pockets of criminal gangs.

So treating them like some people on here seem to think is the answer then. Cop on. How many people - in any situation- respond to be treated like second class citizens.

If you go in to a shop and you are disrespected bet you you are not very respectful back. Why are drug users any different? I am not some idiot who doesn't know that drug users commit crime- and some of them commit horrible crimes. But I am also someone who knows that not every drug user is a 'scumbag' or is going to mug your granny.

People need to be realistic. We have thousand of heroin users in Dublin. We can 'round them up' as some bright spark suggested or we can actually try to come up with some way to treat the problem- so there is no need for crime to feed a habit.

At the moment there are approx 20 detox beds in the city, maybe enough methadone places for about a third of the heroin users, up to a year waiting list for treatment. Virtually impossible to get couselling. So yeah, a **** situation. And regardless of how they got there one that needs to be tackled. For the individual. And everyone their drug use affects!!!

havana

You cannot diferentiate between how 'low' people will go.

Some heroin users resort to serious crime to feed their habit. So do many coke users. The snobbery around coke is ridiculous. Coke is not a rich mans drugs anymore- and causes just as many- if not more problems for the user.

Just cos someones friend is grand on coke, but someone else is in bits on the coke is not enough evidence of that. And possibly why so many people think there is no isssue in taking coke. Cos hell, no way I am some scumbag junkie, I just use a bit of coke evry now and then.

Some people lead totally normal lives on heroin too.

Kiera

havana wrote:

You cannot diferentiate between how 'low' people will go.

Of course you can when you have seen it first hand! I have seen both sides of the coin and I’m telling you about my experience in the situation. This is how I am basing my opinion. If it was reversed I’d be saying that coke addicts stoop low but I am just going by what I have seen.

fits

Kiera wrote:

This is how I am basing my opinion. If it was reversed I’d be saying that coke addicts stoop low but I am just going by what I have seen.

Most (but not all) heroin addicts come from poor backgrounds in the inner city, and have less access to money to begin with. There is more of a culture of robbing to get money.
Do you honestly think they'd bother stealing, if they could just swan into the bank and get a 'car loan' for ten grand?
Most coke addicts have jobs and access to loans and credit cards, and therefore do not have to resort to stealing to fund their habit until they are very desperate. I think the coke problem in this country is a time bomb. I know people who were regular users before it became so popular, and they are paying for it now.
And I do realise some people can take it or leave it, but a sizeable minority do become dependant.

JustCoz

I was walking by a group of about 10 junkies at lower abbey street coming off the bus before christmas, it was about 9 o clock so it was dark and one of them shouted over asking if I had a lighter, I said no because I didn't and they all screamed abuse and profainities at me until I was around the corner. A delightful experience!