Fake drugs flooding Derry, says addict's family

Amanda Deehan, 34, who had mental health problems, died in January of this year

The family of a Londonderry woman who was addicted to prescription tablets have said they are gravely concerned about the amount of drugs in the city.

Amanda Deehan, 34, who had mental health problems, died in January of this year.

Her partner and parents claim the city is being "flooded by drugs".

All three have called for specialist services to help deal with what campaigners describe as "a deepening drugs crisis".

Ms Deehan's mother Christine said her daughter was in a vicious cycle and could not escape.

She and her husband Gerald decided to speak out in the hope it will encourage others to get help.

"These fake pills that they're buying, they don't know what's in them," said Mrs Deehan.

Christine Deehan said her daughter was in a vicious cycle or drug abuse and could not escape

"I've been told some of them are 50 times stronger than heroin. One pill is enough to kill them and nobody seems to want to do anything about it.

"These boys are making big bucks out of young ones, I don't know how they can live with themselves."

While her family has been "ripped apart" by losing Amanda, her mother insisted she did not want her daughter to have died in vain.

Gerald Deehan said there is an urgent need for more specialist services in the city to cope with the sheer scale of the drugs problem.

"It's so blatant. You can walk around this city and you'll see young ones walking around like zombies, as if their soul has been took out of their body."

Ms Deehan's partner of four years, Terri Arthur, said they had planned a positive future.

Terri Arthur, said she and Amanda had planned a positive future

"To say the love of my life was an understatement. She was my world.

"Somebody has to speak up about this. It's happening too often. The drugs in this town are taking over.

"When I was growing up, you heard of people doing this at weekends. Now it's an everyday occurrence."

A GP who regularly deals with those who have a range of addictions to drugs and alcohol said his colleagues throughout the health service are doing their best in a very challenging environment.

Dr Joe McEvoy said drug addiction is a complex problem for health professionals in the city.

"What's happened now is, we have people on codeine derivatives, and then people on the benzodiazepines, but also you've got new medications like Xanax, which is not actually prescribed here," he said.

"Instead of what used to happen - people were addicted to one prescription drug - they're taking many different things or even ordering things online that they don't know what they're taking.

"They're being sold as one thing and given something totally different. It's called poly drug abuse, which makes things much more complicated."

The Western Trust said there are a range of services currently available, as well as emergency help for those in difficulty.