Home > Draft final report for strands I and II of social exclusion and local responses: life-histories of drugs users and drugs in the community.

Saris, A. Jamie and Bartley, Brendan (1998) Draft final report for strands I and II of social exclusion and local responses: life-histories of drugs users and drugs in the community. (Unpublished)

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In this report, we synthesize some statistical trends, ethnographic insights, and, frankly, some impressions based on long-term contact with a variety of people either directly or tangentially involved in the use and abuse of illegal drugs in the Ballyfermot, Cherry Orchard area. There are three broad sorts of data in this report. First, we have brought together the available statistics on drug use (a surprisingly difficult task) as well as the data on population trends in the Cherry Orchard and Ballyfermot area.

We have also analysed the notes we have collected as part of the broader community study that were pertinent to the issues or drug use and abuse. These notes are from a multi-site study half of which was situated in Gallanstown, Cherry Orchard. As part of this data set, we collected 10 life histories from 8 men (5 Cherry Orchard and 3 Ballyfermot) and two woman (both Cherry Orchard) who have been serious drug users, according to meaningful local definitions (i.e., having regularly ingested heroin at some point in their lives with anything from bad to disastrous consequences for themselves and their loved ones). This data was supplemented with regular focus groups and informal discussions with several other addicts (5 men and 3 women), as well as a few meetings with a group of underage addicts on methadone maintenance at Fortune House in Cherry Orchard Hospital (2 boys and 3 girls). We also spoke in a less detailed, but still enlightening, way with several family members of individuals with drug problems in both Cherry Orchard and Ballyfermot.


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