New by-law: Drug dealing must only happen in back streets!

lostexpectation

So you all saw the day in the life of boardwalk in the indo yesterday didn't ya ...

It so ridiculous. I hate this idea that we mustn't this or that lest it upset the mythic tourist. They did point out that two pain clothes police were going up and down the boardwalk all day, but im sure they wouldn't have enough courts or jails for all the people dealing or buying or taking drugs that day in dublin.

The fact that it happens on the boardwalk is the least important part of the story... even I in my middle-class closeted life know that you could round to the back O'Connell street to see people openly dealing or under the rail bridge at tara street, but thats ok cos it wouldn't upset tourists.

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1675327&issue_id=14540


this reply doesnt help :rolleyes:

Asked about the matter today, Junior Minister Noel Ahern said the situation was a policing problem that had to be tackled by the gardaí.

He also claimed the dealers and users would not be using the boardwalk "as soon as the weather gets nasty in a few weeks' time".

baztard

Well said OP. Much like any problem this country has, if it happens somewhere out of the public eye, we can safely go on ignoring it and pretend it doesn't exist. But when its in plain view on the boardwalk, its a major issue all of a sudden. Middle class snoberry at it finest.

layke

Sorry, but this page cannot be displayed. It may be
unavailable, or may not even exist. Please ensure
that you have have typed the URL correctly.

404 - File Not Found.

Hmm I never heard of Street dealing in Dublin. Always thought it was more of you get it from a friend of a friend thing. That said, you'd never know what's in that s***e.

Having said the above, it's common in every country. The US for example, there are just certain places the police do not go. The UK has this problem too, i'm not saying it's right but the cops know about it they just don't enforce it.

oscarBravo

Relevance to Politics? Should I move to, I dunno, Humanities?

FTA69

Of course drug abuse is relative to politics, it is abig problem in Irish society and the measures that can be taken to address it are inherently political.

Hmm I never heard of Street dealing in Dublin. Always thought it was more of you get it from a friend of a friend thing. That said, you'd never know what's in that s***e.

The methadone clinic is always a scene of street dealing. I've seen people buying gear on O'Connell Street before, and I've also seen a fella close to Phibsboro passed out with a needle stuck in his arm, it is a very visible problem for inner city communities. I believe the worst case was Fatima Mansions which at one stage was an open air smack supermarket.

Diogenes

layke wrote:

Hmm I never heard of Street dealing in Dublin. Always thought it was more of you get it from a friend of a friend thing. That said, you'd never know what's in that s***e.

Walk down past Pearse st Dart station or Past the corpo offices down the Quays the level of brasen street dealing is absurd.

Hotblack Desiato

Diogenes wrote:

Walk down past Pearse st Dart station or Past the corpo offices down the Quays the level of brasen street dealing is absurd.

A few years ago my job transferred me temporarily to offices up on Townsend St. for a few months. In broad daylight you would see YungWanWihPram1 transferring little silver packages to YungWanWihPram2 and discussing at the top of their voices how many "millileeeeters" they got at the methadone clinic up the road. Occasionally the happy scene would be livened up by the appearance of the boyfriend of one (or both?) of said esteemable ladies calling her every name under the sun. This all clearly audible from our office where I was surrounded by consultants being paid hundreds a day including non-nationals.. what impression of our wonderful capital were they getting? :rolleyes:

The amazing thing was - walk 100 metres up the road and you're back towards respectability (and one of the largest Garda stations in the capital :rolleyes: )

FTA69

Many cities have an unofficial policy of tolerating drug dealing in certain areas. In Amsterdam for instance, people line the footpaths of the Red Light District selling all sorts of class-A drugs and they do so very openly, police don't bother with them unless there are reports of them becoming violent or crossing out of the designated area. While this may seem a shocking idea, the Red Light is a non residential area populated mainly by tourists out of their minds or seedy locals so the trouble is very much confined. However it seems the same was tried in Dublin with places like Fatima and Dolphin's Barn with the key difference being they were high-density residential areas with a young population, and as such was a recipie for disaster from the start.

Drug abuse is a complicated issue, one which I am quite passionate about considering I've seen the effect it has had on many youngfellas I grew up with. One conclusion I have reached though is that the issue of drugs is far larger than that of illegal drugs, and that alcohol and gambling have played a much larger role in demoralising and depressing working class communities, and that they must be addressed on the same scale as illegal drugs. Also the reasons why people turn to drink and drugs must be alleviated in order to combat the problem, simply ranting about crackdowns on criminals does little to address the root causes of addiction in Irish society, rather it is a populist solution with little bearing or effect on the areas it is supposed to help.

gurramok

ninja900 wrote:

A few years ago my job transferred me temporarily to offices up on Townsend St. for a few months. In broad daylight you would see YungWanWihPram1 transferring little silver packages to YungWanWihPram2 and discussing at the top of their voices how many "millileeeeters" they got at the methadone clinic up the road. Occasionally the happy scene would be livened up by the appearance of the boyfriend of one (or both?) of said esteemable ladies calling her every name under the sun. This all clearly audible from our office where I was surrounded by consultants being paid hundreds a day including non-nationals.. what impression of our wonderful capital were they getting? :rolleyes:

The amazing thing was - walk 100 metres up the road and you're back towards respectability (and one of the largest Garda stations in the capital :rolleyes: )

Deep inside despite reservations, i'm actually glad its happening in the open as it would mean the general public sees at face value the horror of what is going on in this section of society which has been mostly hidden from them in last 30 years or so in back alleys of deprived areas.

This time, i hope that the powers that be will take some action in whatever form to help prevent drug abuse among the young in society thats been blatantly ignored for generations by the authorities bar a dug clinic here and there.