Concerns raised over potential rehab clinic closure

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by Change | 24 Feb 2009

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Protests have been mounted in Northern Ireland amid concerns that lives could be at risk over the planned closure of a drug rehab clinic.

Plans to close a drug rehab clinic in Ballymena, East Antrim, have been criticised by local campaigners over the damage the closure could do to local drug addicts.

The Hope Centre is set to be closed after it was told that the vast majority of its funding had been withdrawn.

But campaigners claim that closing the centre would put lives at risk, as the rehab centre does much work to keep people from returning to drugs and provides them with a haven from those who would get them hooked once more.

"We are not overstating the case when we say that without our services some people with addictions will simply die," Hope Centre community support worker Trish Cathcart told the Larne Times.

"The Hope Centre deals with more than 400 adults, children and family members affected by addiction," she added.

rehab centres such as the one in East Antrim can provide an important opportunity for people with drug habits to get away from their communities and tackle the problem with support provided to them on every step of their journey.

It has recently been suggested that providing services through rehab clinics could also help tackle crime.

Johann Hari, writing for the Independent, suggested allowing rehab clinics to offer methadone prescriptions for people with chronic heroin addiction could help to cut addiction rates in the long-term and therefore reduce crime.

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