| Paul Lamont was employed as a drugs worker in the city for six years until March, and was heavily involved in needle exchange and counselling.
“The figures for those entering our premises in 2002 for clean needles stood at a few hundred,” said Mr Lamont, a qualified social worker.
“By March 2008 our figures were at least 10,000 per year, although I would assume the correct figure would quite easily top 12,000 by now.
“At times, we had over 60 different individuals access us for needles and injecting advice each day.
“In 2002, when I first started, I would be lucky if one or two individuals would access me per day.”
Mr Lamont said he believed Dundee was awash with class A substances — and described heroin as “just the tip of the iceberg”.
“Drugs like Valium and other drugs are used by this particular client group and contribute to their demise and the demise of communities,” he said.
“Unfortunately, it appears that drugs like heroin are here to stay as the war on drugs appears to be lost. I have no doubt that in the coming years it can and will only get worse.” |
