Member's statement: Alcohol and Drug Addiction
Member's statement by Mr Daniel McCrossan on .
- MLA
- Mr Daniel McCrossan
- Party at the time
- Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Date
- 23 September 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Alcohol and Drug Addiction
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5129097
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I rise to discuss the blight of alcohol and drug addiction in our communities. It is one of the greatest social challenges facing our society. Behind the statistics are real people, families and communities that are being torn apart. Every week, I meet families in West Tyrone who are watching loved ones spiral into addiction. Too often, their stories are stories of despair, not because they have given up hope but because they feel that the system has given up on them. Our services are failing. They are underfunded, fragmented and, in many cases, completely inaccessible to those who need them. Waiting lists are far too long. Community organisations are stretched to breaking point, forced to pick up the pieces with little or no support from government. The result is predictable: more lives lost, more families broken and more communities living in fear of what drugs do their streets. We cannot talk about addiction in isolation. Too often, those struggling with alcohol or drugs are also battling mental health issues, depression, anxiety and trauma, yet, in Northern Ireland, there is no proper dual diagnosis system that treats both conditions together; instead, people are pushed from one service to another and fall through the cracks at the very moment when they need joined-up, compassionate care. Drugs are destroying lives in every community. From Strabane to Belfast and Omagh to Derry, we see young people being robbed of their future and neighbourhoods being destabilised. It is not just a health crisis; it is a social emergency on which the Executive must act now. We desperately need urgent investment in addiction services. We need accessible, properly funded community-based supports that people and families can rely on. We need a dual diagnosis approach that recognises the inextricable link between mental health and addiction, so that people are treated as whole human beings and not as cases to be passed between Departments. In that vein, it is regrettable that the core funding for the Northlands centre in Derry has been cut. That is short-sighted and speaks to the failings of the Executive to prioritise those who are struggling and battling with addiction, particularly across the north-west. Addiction is not a lifestyle choice; it is an illness. It requires treatment, support and compassion, particularly from those in positions of leadership in government. If we continue to underfund and ignore the crisis, more lives will be lost. However, with the right services, the right investment and the right political leadership from the Executive, people can have a chance to recover and rebuild their lives with dignity and the support that they so desperately need and deserve.
439 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: 0.04 (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 (0.95).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- Subject area: Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits.
- 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 | 0.03 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.95 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.04 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.64 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.33 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.03 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:10 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
Disagree with this assessment?
Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.