A “drug safe” to allow the anonymous deposit of drugs should be located at Northside Shopping Centre in the Shantallow area of Derry, a local Sinn Fein councillor has said.
Sinn Fein Cllr Elisha McCallion.
Derry City Council’s Policy and Resources Committee last month gave the go-ahead for four “drug drop off boxes” to be situated at locations on the cityside, Waterside and rural areas under the Foyle Drug Safe Initiative (FDSI).
Cash confiscated from drug dealers will fund the initiative which is hoped will provide a better understanding of the type of drugs available in in the Council area.
Sinn Fein Cllr Elisha McCallion, a member of the Derry Policing and Community Safety Partnership (PCSP), said “every mechanism” needed to be used to get both illegal or unused prescription drugs off the streets and “out of cupboards away from harm’s way.”
She added: “We have seen in other areas were there has been the introduction of what are commonly known as ‘drug drop off’ boxes. There, people can safely and anonymously deposit drugs in a drug box safe.
“I am calling for the introduction of such a drop off box in the greater Shantallow area and I believe the likes the Northside Shopping centre is both accessible and an ideal location for such a scheme to be in place.
“The damage that drugs can do to individuals and communities is well known in Derry. It only takes one ecstasy tablet or one experiment with cocaine to cause death. Too many families have been impacted by such tragedies.”
Cllr McCallion concluded: “The social effects that these drugs can cause to communities are also well known with addictions leading to higher levels of crime and higher levels of social care and rehabilitation needed for users.”
The Foyle Drug Safe Initiative (FDSI) is to be delivered by the local Policing Community and Safety Partnership (PCSP) which has secured £7,500 from the Department of Justice (DoJ) Assets Recovery Community Safety (ARCS) project to get the scheme up and running.
Both legal and illegal drugs will be able to “deposited” in the “safes.”
The Derry scheme follows a similar successful initiative in East Belfast.
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