Debate contribution: Addiction and Drug-related Deaths
Debate contribution by Ms Paula Bradshaw on .
- MLA
- Ms Paula Bradshaw
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 23 April 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Addiction and Drug-related Deaths
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4485522
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I thank the proposer of the motion. It is a very important debate, and I concur with other Members' comments about its tone and sentiment To bring the motion to life, I will talk about a number of issues that I have dealt with as an MLA. I am very struck by how the motion mentions:
"the intrinsic connection between social deprivation, poverty, isolation, mental health and addiction"
to drugs. On Saturday, I was in my constituency and happened upon a very serious argument in the street. There was a young woman in a very distressed state and a very aggravated partner, who was shouting out of the window at her. She wanted to get back into her house. Of course, I was not going anywhere when I saw this happening. It turned out that her partner is a very serious drug addict. She had found drugs in the house and, as she has a young family, flushed them down the toilet. He thought that a measured reaction to that would be to smash the house up. She was in a very distressed state. Earlier in the week, he had stolen £100-odd — I do not want to give too much detail — from her purse to cover a drug debt. I concur with what Carál said: the drug debts are owed to so-called paramilitaries — thugs — so there is that added layer of complexity in Northern Ireland. He effectively stole money out of the mouths of his babies. The money was meant for top-up cards and clothes etc. The problem with all that is that, if that young man had not been in an addicted state, he would probably be highly ashamed and sorry for what he had got himself into. I spoke to the young lady, took her round the corner and got her a cup of tea. She said that his parents are both lifelong abusers of drugs and alcohol. Is it any wonder that he ended up in that state? Again, Carál hit the nail on the head on this issue. The young man had presented at the Mater and at the emergency department at the Royal many times, looking for help, but it just was not there, so he came home. He had suffered from poor mental health for his entire life. It was the worst of situations to stumble across. My office is working with that young lady now, but it is so sad how addiction affects not only the individual but everybody around them. I will also pick up on the need for the residential rehabilitation unit in Belfast. Again, while walking through my constituency — I do not do it on purpose — I saw a really aggravated argument between a young woman, who was clearly pregnant, and a guy. Again, I was not going to walk away. I am not a superhero, but I am the type of person who will not walk away from something if I am not sure that it is safe. The next thing was that the young woman smacked the guy up the face. I then spoke up, and he ran off. It turned out that the woman, who was seven months pregnant, had just left the Royal Victoria Hospital. She had been an inpatient and still had the wristband on her arm. Her boyfriend had picked her up from the Royal, and she went straight to Botanic Avenue to buy drugs. The drug dealer had taken her money and had not given her any drugs. The need for a residential rehabilitation unit is plain to see. From that day on, I very much agreed with it. My last story is about when we were doing a walk around in the Holylands and, in one of the alleyways, there were two heroin users. One was injecting the other's foot with a syringe, because, obviously, the rest of his veins had collapsed. Around every corner, especially in inner-city communities, you will find the impact of the scourge of drugs and the very hopeless people who are addicted to them. To go back to that young lady who was seven months pregnant, I always wonder what happened to her. I wonder about what happened to her and her baby and whether they ever got the support that they needed. It is a desperate situation. I thank Órlaithí for the times that she has brought people to the steps of Stormont. I met some of the mothers and bereaved parents that she brought up that day. They were so frustrated that they had walked those steps up to Stormont so many times, begging for help. They have lost loved ones and do not want anyone else to go through that. The motion is very timely and very much supported, and I look forward to hearing the Minister's response on what concrete action can be taken, especially around the residential rehabilitation unit.
823 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.06 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.78).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.88).
- Subject area: Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.04 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.05 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.09 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.05 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.78 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.06 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.88 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.01 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.09 |
| Adopts it | 0.02 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism | 0.60 |
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.15 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.10 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.09 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.05 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:08 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
Disagree with this assessment?
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