There is a moment that can change everything. When a no becomes a yes, when a sense of experimentation takes over, or when someone finally succumbs to peer pressure. That one moment can be innocent enough – sure what’s the harm in trying it this once? But that one pill, that one hit can be the start of a long and complex road with drugs – one that can be utterly terrifying, as Jacqueline Hogge’s report on drugs in rural Ireland reports.

Because across Ireland, on city streets and in rural corners, the addictive nature of drugs is no longer just the issue. The people behind the drugs – the dealers – are threatening a nation, and as our report reveals, fearmongering and the threat of drug violence has nearly become a more lucrative business for dealers than selling the product itself.

Last Thursday night, Craughwell GAA clubhouse in Co Galway was packed full of people attending a community alert information evening focused on drugs in the area. The true extent of rural drugs, the real-life accounts of men in balaclavas turning up at a young woman’s house threatening to kneecap her if her father didn’t pay them €10,000 shocked the room. But this meeting could have happened at any GAA club across the country, and there would be stories of a similar nature. Drug violence is making its way down the byroads and side roads of rural Ireland; it’s in our GAA clubs and marts.

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Farmers are being forced to sell cattle to pay off drug debt and parents are selling land to get the money a child owes. Families feel powerless in their own home – living in fear of a knock at the door. The most shocking story that was referenced by Joe Treacy, HSE clinical addiction counsellor in the article – which I had also heard through others – was of a young person dying and the dealers showing up at the removal. They stood in the queue to sympathise with the family, and then had the audacity to convey the message that the debt did not die with that person. It is incomprehensible that a threat was made at the toughest time in a parent’s life.

Farmers are being forced to sell cattle to pay off drug debt and parents are selling land to get the money a child owes. Families feel powerless in their own home – living in fear of a knock at the door

We can throw the stereotype out the window that drugs only impact those living in lower socio-economic areas. Quite the opposite in fact – young people from affluent and hard-working families are being targeted as dealers follow the money.

This is a story that we will continue to report on because it can’t be swept under the carpet. As Joe Treacy says in the report, the drug situation in Ireland is now at an epidemic level. Yet it continues to be discussed in hushed tones. There is still stigma and shame around the subject and families are living this reality in secret. Once the first payment is made, dealers keep coming back for more and families are trying to navigate this impossible situation on their own.

If drug debt is affecting your family, it’s important to know help is available. There is a dedicated Garda inspector in every Garda division who will respond to the issue of drug-related intimidation. And perhaps Jacqueline’s article is not just an information piece – it can serve as a talking point at the kitchen table. To start a conversation with your child about drugs – not to hammer home a point but to let them know that you are there for them. To help them realise the real danger of an experimental hit. That one hit can change everything.