| Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee East, said she would write to Tayside Chief Constable John Vine to ask how the force intends to protect the community.
She was speaking after a report in yesterday’s Tele about a heroin dealer whose Hilltown flat was visited by 50 people in less than five hours.
Police had been keeping 43-year-old Donna Winter’s Powrie Place home under surveillance after receiving a tip-off that she was selling drugs.
At the sheriff court yesterday, she admitted being concerned in the supply of heroin over several months and was remanded in custody pending sentence on June 10.
Her solicitor, George Donnelly, told the court that the Hilltown was “awash with heroin” and a torrent of addicts would flood down to his client’s home.
Ms Robison said, “Sometimes an area can begin to have a problem.
“It’s a small minority of people who are involved and we have to protect the ordinary people in the community.
“I will be writing to the Chief Constable to find out what his plans are for Hilltown.”
The minister said the drugs issue was one the Scottish Government took seriously and were committed to tackling.
“We know the effect it can have on communities,” she said.
Ministers are due to unveil a new drugs strategy soon, which will place extra emphasis on helping addicts to recover.
A survey of heroin users in Dundee, published earlier this year, found that most were taking the drug daily and spending an average of £18,000 a year to feed their habit.
Last week, Deputy Chief Constable Kevin Mathieson admitted the force was losing its battle against drug misuse.
He told members of the Tayside Joint Police Board that despite police efforts over the past 10 to 20 years “things are getting worse” with more deaths from overdoses, more people becoming addicts and drugs being cheap and freely available.
Officers seized a half-a-kilo of heroin in October in an operation carried out at addresses in Hilltown and Kirkton. They estimated the haul would have had a street value of £50,000.
In the same month, police obtained a three-month closure order on the Hilltown flat of a 29-year-old woman following “unacceptable” drug misuse and anti-social behaviour.
The children’s playpark behind the Little Theatre has also been identified as one of the worst spots in the city for addicts to discard their used needles. |
