Health Minister Robin Swann agrees to meet families of those who have lost loved ones to drugs

The health minister is to meet with a number of families of those who have lost loved ones to drugs on the streets of Belfast. 

Robin Swann's office has confirmed this with families who want to see a special facility set up for those battling addictions.

At least 15 people have died on the city's street since June in what has been described as a crisis for the city.

Multiple drugs are fueling the crisis. Northern Ireland’s coroner told UTV that cocaine-related deaths had rocketed by almost 1,000% in recent years. There have also been rises in the use of benzodiazepines and heroin.So called poly drug use – where a person takes a mixture of substances – can make responding to emergencies much harder for medical professionals.

Drugs have a complex relationship to homelessness. Some people are driven into life on the streets by drug use.

Others develop addictions as a way to cope with the difficult realities of life without a home. For others it is a combination of both. What is certain is that dealing with homelessness very often involves dealing with drug abuse.The situation is made worse by how easy drugs are to acquire in the city. One man living on the streets in Belfast said that it is as easy to buy drugs as it is to buy beer from an off-license. Those who deal with drug abuse say that the situation in Belfast is worse than it has been in some time.

Brian Maguire, a paramedic in the city, says that Belfast is “riddled” with drugs, and that it is now comparable to the situation in other major European captials.

Liz Rocks of the Belfast Homeless Services says: “The last there seems to be a terrible dose of drugs out there that's just wiping our young people out, you know, and they don't seem to understand what they're getting.

"They think maybe they're getting a particular drug. But unbeknown to them, it could be mixed up, like we're hearing ketamine, MDMA and cocaine. So that's a cocktail in itself and that's going into people's bodies.” Mr Swann's meeting with the families is to take place next month.

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