Police congratulated on cocaine seizure

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 24th Jul 2003

ALLIANCE Councillor Stewart Dickson has congratulated the police on their drugs seizures in Carrickfergus and Greenisland yesterday evening.

Councillor Dickson, who is the Vice Chair of the Carrickfergus District Policing Partnership, said:

"It is very concerning that a quantity of cocaine was amongst the drugs found in the police seizures. This is a rare find for the Carrickfergus and Greenisland areas, and I congratulate the police on taking these drugs out of circulation.

"The community here is sick of illegal drugs being peddled, and people expect the courts to deal with anyone found guilty of dealing firmly."

On a related issue, the Alliance councillor said that other forms of drugs were also causing problems in Northern Ireland, about which the police could do little.

Cllr Dickson said that shop keepers should be careful who they sell cigarette lighters to, as some young people are using cheap, disposable lighters to get high. He added that since the Government had banned the sale of lighter fuel to young people in 1999, some had turned to experimenting with disposable lighters.

Cllr Dickson said: "Cheap, disposable lighters are easily available from any newsagents or street vendor. Although shop keepers cannot sell cans of lighter fuel to young people, they can sell the actual lighters containing the fuel.

"Some young people are using the easy availability of these lighters to get a cheap thrill, despite the fact that they could be killed instantly. Glue sniffing is another form of volatile substance abuse that is popular and shop keepers need to be vigilant about who they are selling these products to.

"Unfortunately, there is little police can do to stop substance abuse on the streets. While it may not be an arrestable offence to abuse certain substances in public, it can quickly lead to problems, such as anti-social behaviour.

"I believe the police need more powers to do more than simply move people along when they are high in public and causing a nuisance. Parents also have a duty to make sure their children are aware of the dangers and that they don't get involved in substance abuse. One sniff can end a child's life, and that is something no parent wants."