‘Nip dial-a-drug scourge in the bud’ – MLA urges

Sinn Fein representative Oliver McMullan said the doorstep delivery of classified drugs to teenagers in Larne - reported in last week’s Times - cannot be allowed to spread.

Mr McMullan claimed that what he terms the “dial-a-drug phenomenon” has already “taken hold” in the town.

“I have raised concerns that drugs are now being distributed to young people in the Larne area through a dialing service where dealers take orders and deliver them to the person who ordered them,” said the MLA.

“It is important that an emphasis is put on stopping this service before it spreads right across the North. Illegal drugs are already too accessible to many people without having them delivered right to your doorstep.

“I have requested a meeting with the local PSNI commander to discuss how the growing drug problem in East Antrim area can be tackled. While the PSNI have the primary responsibility to tackle this illegal activity, drugs are also a social problem that needs a combined community response in order to deal with it.

“We need to ensure that drug distribution is halted, as these dealers continue to target the young and the vulnerable. It is therefore important that anyone with information about drug dealing bring it to the attention of the PSNI before these unscrupulous dealers claim the lives of more of our young people.

“I am also calling for a dedicated drug advisor that would coordinate the policing and community responses to the problem. I would ask parents who suspect their children of taking drugs to seek professional help through the various agencies available,” said Mr McMullan.

The Larne Times reported last week a local teenager’s claim that drugs like naphyrone, cocaine and speed are all available locally “at the other end of a phone”.

“It is so easy to get a hold of that all I have to do is make a phone call and it will be brought round to my door within 20 minutes,” the ex-addict told us.