The defendant said he took cannabis to help with pain management and worked as a panel beater

“Based on an analytical review of local samples obtained in Cork, the HSE currently has no indication that extra risky batches of heroin are in circulation."

Over the weekend, samples of substances in circulation were secured. It is hoped the results will be available today, so it will then be known if there is a more dangerous substance on the streets of Cork.

Deputy Thomas Gould, Cork TD and the party’s spokesperson on addiction, recovery and wellbeing, launched the results of the survey on the community addiction sector.

The latest Health Research Board Investigation in to drug-poisoning shows that 339 people in Cork died of drug poisoning between 2012 and 2021, with 41 of these in 2021, compared to 52 in 2020.

For someone experiencing an overdose, naloxone can help to keep them alive until an ambulance arrives.

The ‘Hidden Grief’ project is a collaboration between UCC researchers, the artist Spicebag, and community partners aiming to bring visibility to the complex and stigmatised grief experienced by those who have lost loved ones or clients to drug-related deaths.

The HSE remain on high alert as Nitazene continues to circulate in Cork city. 

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has signed off on plans to equip frontline gardaí with naloxone, a medication that is used as an antidote to temporarily reverse the effects of opioid drugs such as heroin.

It comes following “an overdose cluster” in Cork, with the latest figures showing 17 overdoses linked to synthetic opioid nitazene.

Mr Martin also said he would use the trip to focus on the role that Ireland has been playing in assisting the peace process in Colombia.

The HSE has confirmed that its National Social Inclusion Office, in collaboration with partner support services, is launching 16 new peer education and support programmes across the country, including one in Cork

The HSE said there had been a further rise in the number of overdoses relating to a powder sold as heroin reported in Cork over the past 10 days, but it has been unable to confirm whether there have been any related fatalities.

The HSE issued an extreme risk drug warning last Thursday after a nitazene-type substance had been linked with what it described as “recent cases of serious overdose in Cork city”.

The HSE said there had been a rise in the number of overdoses relating to a powder sold as heroin reported in Cork over the past six days, but it was unable to confirm whether there had been any fatalities associated with those overdoses.

Cork City representatives are to travel to Portugal next month to visit supervised injection centres,

The assembly, comprising 99 randomly selected citizens reflective of the Irish population and an independent chair, will explore issues related to illicit drug taking and submit a report to the Oireachtas by the end of 2023

The GP said he has seen the darker side of the drug’s impact including desperation from patients who have already been hospitalised due to cocaine use

He referred to shocking experiences including river rescues which emergency services are attending on a regular basis and some incidents where people tell him they don't want to be saved.

Bantry-based GP Paul O’Sullivan said pharmacists and GPs are currently liaising with one another to detect suspicious behaviour linked to medication stockpiling.

HSE Head of Drugs And Alcohol Services in Cork and Kerry David Lane said there have been significant developments in Cork’s war against heroin

A supervised injecting facility (SIF) is a clean, safe, healthcare environment where people can inject drugs, obtained elsewhere, under the supervision of trained health professionals, according to the HSE.

Joe Kirby, from the Cork Local Drugs and Alcohol Task Force (CLDATF), said despite legislation being approved in 2015 to allow for supervised injecting facilities, such a facility still does not exist in the country.

Nicole Ryan, from Millstreet, lost her brother, Alex, aged 18, when he took the synthetic N-Bomb drug. Now a pre-accredited addiction counsellor, she is spreading her harm-reduction message through her education programme, Alex’s Adventure.

The report which is the first national, in-depth, representative study of drug use among students in higher education in Ireland found “worrying trends”, particularly in relation to the use of cocaine.

Caitríona Twomey made her remarks after the Lord Mayor of Cork, Fianna Fáil’s Councillor Colm Kelleher had announced that he had applied last week to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly for funding for a supervised injection centre in the city.

He predicted that there would be objections to an injection centre “no matter where in the city it goes”

Tommy remains humble as he continues to hold down a full-time job while coordinating recovery meetings three times a week.

Dr John Sheehan said he is treating patients who had sourced the drug from dealers to ease their pain

THE director of Cork’s Life Centre has voiced concern that drug dealers have begun selling heroin nearby. Don O’Leary said queues for heroin have been forming in the area, which he fears has become a hub for drug addicts.

A SUPERVISED injection centre for Cork would require at least 20 staff and funding of at least €1m a year, according Southern Regional Drug and Alcohol Taskforce co-ordinator David Lane.

POLITICIANS are being urged to push for a supervised injection centre for Cork city to help save lives.

PLANS for a supervised injection centre for heroin users in Cork will continue to be pushed, despite a court rejection of similar plans for a centre in Dublin.

THE number of people seeking treatment for cocaine in Cork has almost trebled since 2016. Last year, there were 234 people treated for addiction to cocaine as their main drug, in Cork. This is up from 80 in 2016.

A FORMER Lord Mayor has voiced concern about children as young as eight being used as drug runners in areas of Cork City.

MORE than a third of inmates at Cork Prison are either getting methadone treatment for opioid addiction or are on a waiting list for treatment.

SUSPECTED cocaine with a street value of over €12 million has been seized in Cork. It was seized during a joint operation between An Garda Síochána through the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) and Revenue’s Customs Service.

GARDAÍ are concerned that the lengthy West Cork coastline could be exploited by drug smugglers aiming to beat Brexit.

THE number of drug seizures made at Cork prison this year is almost on a par with last year, despite visitor restrictions across the prison estate.

THERE has been an 85% increase in detections for drug dealing in Cork city this year and senior gardaí have warned that recreational use of drugs is helping to fund gangland weapons in places like Dublin.

A POLISH man who is wanted in his home country for drug trafficking was caught with a stash of over €10,000 worth of different drugs at his home in Skibbereen.

Gardaí arrested two men and seized over €20,000 of suspected drugs and cash in Cork City yesterdaylShortly after 11pm Gardaí from the City Centre Policing Unit were on patrol on Glasheen Road.

THE prominence of drugs during recent months in Cork is expected to be highlighted at a joint policing committee meeting today. The Cork County Joint Policing Meeting takes place this afternoon and is the first since the Covid-19 lockdown in March.

GARDAÍ have arrested a man and seized €8,100 of suspected drugs in Youghal. At around 3. 30pm yesterday members of the drugs unit attached to Youghal Garda Station, assisted by Midleton Gardaí, executed a search warrant at a house on Chestnut Drive.

HEARING of their mother’s suicide while serving a prison sentence together led two brothers to overcome addiction as a family.

ONE person was arrested in Midleton as part of an international operation to smash the activities of a Lithuanian-led organised crime group.

Gardaí have arrested a man and seized €5,600 of suspected cannabis plants in Cork City.

MARY’S* son Roger* is currently planning a new start in life — for the second time in the past decade. He is now just finished drug addiction treatment and is hoping to remain drug free for the rest of his life.

A Citizens Assembly on drugs is included in the most recent Programme for Government. In the first part of a three-day series on the proposal, Ann Murphy hears what needs to be examined in the assembly.

A STUDY of drug users and practitioners working with drug users in Cork late last year has been published by a man who has overcome heroin addiction. James Leonard now has a Masters in Criminology from UCC and is embarking on a PhD in September.