"The Irish Bishops’ Drugs initiative is a unique Church response to the challenge of substance abuse in Ireland. It is parish based and works on a local level with a wide network of volunteers. It aims at eliciting community action and it sees community as a focal point in changing attitudes but above all it sees community as the place where healing and integration of broken lives can be realised.

Many young people today are attracted into the world of drinking because they are told that it will help them to socialize. For some, alcohol and drug use sadly open for them a path which is the opposite of socializing: a path of isolation and marginalization from society and community. The Irish Bishops’ Drugs initiative stresses that healing must come from community. Community must become the place where broken lives are welcomed back into a place of integration and healing