Task force plan to ‘re focus’ on drug use issues
THE Clondalkin Drugs and Alcohol Task Force (CDTAF) are currently reviewing their 2018-2025 strategic plan at the halfway point to “re focus” and tackle drug use at a local level.
CDTAF, which was established in 1997, aims to research, develop and implement a co-ordinated, locally appropriate response to substance misuse.
The task force’s aim is to significantly reduce the harm caused by the misuse of drugs in the community through a concentrated focus on supply reduction, prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and research.
The task force is currently reviewing their strategic plan – ‘Reclaiming Community Development as an Effective Response to Drug Harms, Policy Harms, Poverty and Inequality’.
“There was a strategy put together in 2018 and we would generally look at it halfway through,” said Co-ordinator of CDATF, Trevor Bissett.
“After it was published in 2018 there was two years of running it and then two years of Covid so I think it is a good time to review it and think of how we can refocus in a co-ordinated way.
“It is just a review of what has been done over the last three years and what we hope to achieve in the next three.”
In recent years, there have been reports of increased drug usage and open drug dealing in areas in Clondalkin such as Corkagh Park which have been plaguing the community and been a serious cause for concern.
“We are always looking at drug use – our focus is generally on treatment and prevention and that’s why we are here,” said Trevor. “The reports of increased drug dealing are probably an indicator of increased drug usage.”
The review of CDTAF’s current strategic plan began at the beginning of December last year and a draft is expected to be published in the coming weeks.
“We did a public consultation and a couple of hundred people replied to the survey which is great and for the first time we have reached out to service users, and we have a volunteer who is helping us who is actually a service user himself.
“It is important to have the service user’s voice heard in the strategy – that is a big focus for us.
“Some of the consultations or the projects have had challenges in terms of finance and trying to keep the show on the road”, said Trevor. “Coming out of Covid I think all of that will be magnified.”
