Galway Bay fm newsroom:
A county councillor is calling on the County Joint Policing Committee to write to the HSE to reopen the drug and alcohol treatment centre at Merlin Park Hospital as soon as possible.
Independent councillor Jim Cuddy raised the motion at today's JPC meeting following a presentation by Galway addiction councillor Joe Tracey.
Cocaine with a purity of up to 94 percent is now being sold in Galway, while the price of the drug has dropped from 80 to 60 euro a gram - in an effort to flood the market according to addiction counsellor Joe Tracey.
He also told the meeting that the strongest Moroccan cannabis he has come across, is widely available in the county.
Meanwhile, he advised the committee that the availability of cheap, strong alcohol is another huge issue that is not going away.
Mr Tracey says a "generation could be lost," if more funding is not allocated to dedicated treatment services.
Loughrea councillor Michael Moegie Maher suggested introducing random drugs screening in schools as a way to address the issue.
There has been no addiction treatment service in the city since a former facility at Merlin Park burned down in 2012.
Last month, 470 thousand euro was secured to restore the facility in the newly published HSE service plan.
It’s hoped the service will be operational in June next year with a location yet to be confirmed.
