'Our family completely fell apart when my daughter died and my son has got to the point where he won't stop using'
Family members of those who have been killed by the drug crisis in Belfast made an emotional appeal to politicians as they continue their fight to save others.
In 2021 there were 212 drug deaths in Northern Ireland, an increase of 130% from 2010 when there were 92, with outreach workers saying that this is likely under-reported. Lee-Maria Hughes, Lisa Arthurs and Amanda Telford, who have all had family members killed in the drug crisis, told their stories to the politicians in attendance, saying that early intervention work at a young age and family support services were necessary to support those struggling with homelessness and addiction.
"Do you have any idea what it is like for a family who have someone who is living on the streets and the constant fears you have because of how dangerous it is out there? "There is no one that wakes up in the morning and wants to take heroin, but we do not have the right support in place and we desperately need dual diagnosis and overdose prevention facilities.
Independent councillor and People's Kitchen founder Paul McCusker said that public authorities need to be doing more to address the drug crisis and that different departments are not communicating effectively with each other in order to understand how bad it has become.
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