Proposed:
That this Assembly notes with concern NISRA’s 2024 report on Drug-Related and Drug Misuse Deaths, which found a significant increase in the number of deaths attributed to drugs and alcohol; further notes the intrinsic connection between social deprivation, poverty, isolation, mental health and addiction issues; acknowledges with concern the NISRA figures which show that drug related deaths are highest among 25-34 year olds, are five and a half times more likely in areas of highest deprivation and that opioids are consistently the most common form of drug listed as cause of deaths; and calls on the Minister of Health, in co-operation with the Executive Ministerial Committee for Public Health, to urgently implement the provisions aimed at harm prevention, harm reduction and tackling addiction within the Substance Use Strategy 2021-31, including developing plans for a new residential rehabilitation unit in Belfast.
Miss Órlaithà Flynn
Ms Liz Kimmins
Mrs Linda Dillon