The Dundalk based Family Addiction Support Network (FASN) told of the “chaos, trauma and distress” families endure as a loved one battles addiction, when they appeared before the Oireachtas Mental Health Committee this week.
he shocking reality of drug debt intimidation was laid out by the Dundalk support group, with families facing “petrol bombs and death threats.”
Jackie McKenna, Project Co-ordinator told The Argus it was the first time they had gone before the Oireachtas, to speak on the “daily fear being experienced by families.”
"It was a great opportunity for us to be a voice for families who are living with so much fear, and so much trauma as result of substance misuse,” said Jackie.
FASN had commissioned its own research ‘Findings from a study on how families are affected by substance misuse in the North East Region of Ireland’ which examined the range of impacts.
The network were invited to share the results of their research with the Oireachtas group by Senator Frances Black, who chairs the committee
“The research was very much driven by families, by their lived experience,” said Jackie.
The voice of families could be heard throughout the report, she adds, as they spoke of the “chaos, trauma and distress” experienced when a family member faces addiction.
She adds that while the National Drugs Strategy is “much welcomed” and includes the impact on families for the first time “There is simply not enough resources on the ground, anywhere in the country, to support families.”
"Drugs are not going away, it is now the normal culture that our children and our grandchildren are growing up with, so it makes sense that the government would put supports into all of our communities to protect the health and wellbeing of our citizens.”
The FASN research showed that cocaine has now overtaken heroin as the main problem drug in Ireland, and the figures for people seeking help for cocaine addiction certainly back that up. The Health Research Board (HRB) indicates that the numbers seeking help for addiction has tripled in recent years.
But for every person battling addiction, there are families coping with the side affects, ranging from drug debt intimidation to financial pressures and “daily fear and worry for their loved one,” said Jackie.
Indeed families taking part in the study told the FASN that they have been exposed to serious criminal elements as a result of their family member’s addiction.
“They expressed fear and intimidation; taking out loans; getting into debt; being threatened by drug dealers; not being able to sleep in their own house because of threats; having pipe bombs under the car; being threatened with petrol bombs; the threats by their loved one; having to take out protection and barring orders; the impact on siblings, on other family members, on neighbours, villages and local communities; and the link to shame, guilt and stigma,” the report states.
Jackie adds that the Family Support Network are among the many voices from different sectors calling for drug use to be treated as “a health issue and not a criminal one.”
One of the main reasons, she explains, for addressing the committee was the links between substance abuse and mental health issues.
The FASN study found that psychiatric illnesses are found to co-occur with substance abuse problems ranging from anxiety or depressive disorders to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), paranoia, schizophrenia and other mood or personality disorders.
"There is still such a stigma out there, and shame, that often it can prevent people from reporting incidents of intimidation. They don’t want neighbours or people in their community to know that someone in their family is facing addiction, so they don’t speak about it. The drug problem is exacerbated then because of the secrecy, and it keeps communities gripped in fear.”
She said FASN has succeeded in “building great relations with An Garda Siochana” and are implementing a drug intimidation reporting programme, which works with gardai in supporting families.
"There are great community gardai out there who understand that families are traumatised, and that what is happening to them is not their fault.”
"This could happen to any one of us, there is always a sense of ‘there but for the grace of God go us’ as we are all raising children and grandchildren in a society where drug culture is normal now.”
The FASN study also examined the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic, and found families in lockdown with the individual in addiction, where homes became “a pressure cooker”.
“Families were unable to use or have access to other interests and outside distractions that helped them keep their mental health stable.”
Despite the challenges of the pandemic, FASN continued to offer support services.
“One of the most remarkable achievements in 2021 was that the level of service provision was maintained and, in some services, increased and that no family/family member who contacted the service for support was turned away,” said Jackie.
The biggest challenge remaining for the family support network was the “dire lack of core funding” which sees just €7,508 being awarded as annual funding to FASN.
"It has only been for the incredible support of our local communities, our volunteers, and the funds raised and donated by local people and businesses that we have been able to continue providing these vital services for families in need.”
