Origins

Citywide Drugs Crisis Campaign was formed in 1995, in response to the very serious and very dangerous drugs problem which existed in parts of Dublin in the 1990s.  Communities in areas that were already experiencing social deprivation were being destroyed by drugs problems - large numbers of drugs related deaths (especially amongst young people), open and visible drug dealing and people living in fear.  

The State response at that time, was inadequate and ineffective.  Local communities and community activists were left with no option but to become more directly involved in responding. Citywide emerged from a mass meeting of community activists and local residents which took place in Liberty Hall. The meeting, organised by the Inner City Organisations Network (ICON), identified the need to set up a structure to enable individuals and groups to come together on a regular basis to progress a whole range of issues and proposals relating to the drugs issue; and to put pressure on relevant statutory agencies to deliver practical and effective responses to the severe drugs problem that was destroying the lives of so many people and their families in communities in Dublin. Community activists were acutely aware that the drugs crisis in Dublin really began in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The re-emergence of the crisis in the 1990s reflected the failure to put in place adequate supports, services, and facilities at that time. People involved in the establishment of Citywide in 1995 were anxious to ensure that the responses to the drug crisis this time around were substantial, meaningful, targeted, and co-ordinated.