Presented to Parliament pursuant to Regulation 3(1) of the Northern Ireland (Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan) Act 2016 (Independent Reporting Commission) Regulations 2016.

PDF p.55 Drugs:
1.138 Drug abuse is not a problem exclusively in Northern Ireland, and other jurisdictions in the UK and Ireland are grappling with similar problems; however, the links between the drugs trade and paramilitarism make the problem in Northern Ireland unique, and we have heard that these links are growing. Drug dealing and addiction remain a major cause for concern and communities continue to suffer under the impact of associated anti-social behaviour, mental health issues, drug debts, and drug debtrelated intimidation. There were 8,519 drug seizures by PSNI in 2023/24: while this is down 5% from the previous year, over the last decade, the recorded number of seizures has almost doubled.30 Drug-related arrests have risen from 2,838 in 2013/14 to 3,584 in 2023/24.31 The latest figures show that there were 154 drug-related deaths in 2022, down 28% from the previous year; however, this still represents a 40% increase on the number of drug deaths registered a decade ago.32 We know that drugrelated deaths are higher in areas of greater deprivation: the 20% most deprived areas in Northern Ireland accounted for 45% of drug-related deaths and 44% of drug misuse deaths between 2018 and 2022.33 This highlights the cross-cutting nature of the problem: criminal justice, health and socio-economic issues are all involved and connected, requiring a multi-agency, joined-up response.

1.139 We know that some paramilitary groups – or individuals within them – are involved in criminality and we have heard how paramilitary-linked groups can be involved in supplying drugs; ‘taxing’ drug dealers; intimidating those with drug debts, and their families; and coercing and exploiting young people into drug dealing and other activities. The increasing focus on child criminal exploitation responds to some of these issues, and we welcome the launch of a shared definition and action plan by the Departments of Justice, Health and Education to address this matter34. This definition explicitly recognises that ‘the criminal exploitation of children and young people can include being exploited into storing drugs or weapons, drug dealing, theft, violence, intimidation, vandalism, forced labour and other forms of criminality through grooming by people that children and young people trust or look up to’. 

1.140 It is important to recognise that community and voluntary groups are doing invaluable work on the ground to support individuals, families and communities worst affected by drug-related issues. The Substance Misuse Court (SMC), originally established as a pilot in 2018, is an innovative, problem-solving approach championed by the Chief Justice and senior leaders in the judiciary. We had the opportunity to observe the SMC and we were impressed with this initiative which has been evaluated and has shown that it can support eligible offenders by giving them the opportunity to engage in an intensive programme before sentencing, to help tackle their addiction, stabilise their lives, change their behaviour, and reduce their risk of reoffending.35 We welcome the work initiated by the Programme to scope out a response to the issue of drugrelated intimidation using learning from the Drug Related Intimidation and Violence Engagement project (DRIVE) and the Drug Related Intimidation Reporting Project (DRIRP) in Ireland and from other aspects of the Programme, and we look forward to seeing further progress on this.