12/11/2010

Two Arrested After Cannabis Factory Found

Two men have been arrested after cannabis plant cultivation factories and drugs were discovered in two houses in Mooncoin, Co Kilkenny.

Gardaí said that the find recovered an estimated €300,000 worth of drugs. The discovery was made yesterday as part of an ongoing operation targeting the sale and supply of controlled drugs in the Thomastown area.

The two men, aged in their 30s and 40s, are being held at Thomastown Garda Station.

The news comes on the heel of a report from a European drugs watchdog, which found that Ireland has one of the highest levels of heroin usage per head in Europe.

The report from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) reported that in Ireland some 0.65% of 15 to 64 year olds in the state have a heroin problem, compared to a European average of 3.6 and 4.4 cases per 1,000 people.

The report also found there were some three million users of cocaine in Europe. The average per country was 2.3 % with the level of Irish users coming to 3.1 %. The United Kingdom had the largest prevalence rate of 6.3% among young adults aged 15–34.

Responding to the report, Fine Gael Community Affairs Spokesperson, Frank Feighan, described the research as grim evidence of the grip, which the drug takes on societies in recession.

"The 2010 annual report of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction makes for worrying reading. According to the report seven out of every 1,000 people in Ireland is a heroin user. This means our problem is the worst in the EU, with more than twice the number of heroin users as most of the other countries."

(DW/KMcA)

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