Offaly Community Forum launches Dial to Stop Drug Dealing campaign

A new confidential drugs hotline has the potential to take drugs off the streets and put drug-dealers in jail. The Midlands Dial to Stop Drug Dealing phoneline was launched by the Midlands Regional Drugs Taskforce and Offaly Community Forum last Friday, in a bid to stop the scourge of drug dealing around the Midlands. Speaking at the launch, Minister of State with responsibility for the National Drugs Strategy John Curran, urged a large crowd of community activists, health professionals and local agencies to use and publicise the free and confidential helpline. 'Don"t let the dealers determine the lives of future generations and get dialling. Your call has the capacity to take drugs off the streets,' he said. Offaly Community Forum is responsible for ensuring that this campaign is rolled out to Edenderry, Tullamore and Birr over the next few weeks in conjunction with HSE Midlands Drug Taskforce. The free and confidential phone line enables the public to pass on information on drug dealing or activity in their local area in a completely safe manner without any fears of being traced. Callers are never asked for their name, address or any other information which might identify them and because all calls go to a UK-based call centre, the caller"s voice will never be recognised. The call will also not appear on a phone bill. Information is then passed on directly to the gardaí to help them in ongoing inquiries into drug supply and dealing. 'To date, there have been nearly 3,000 calls to the phone line, which has generated over 600 information reports to the Gardaí. An Garda Síochána have confirmed that the information gathered as a result of the campaign has proved extremely useful to their enquiries and has yielded significant seizures of cannabis and heroin. Ultimately, there will be prosecutions as a result of this,' added the Minister. The freephone number is 1800 220 220. For further information check www.dialtostop.ie