Dublin City Council says it will remove posters that have appeared across Dublin, claiming parts of the city are ‘designated crack and heroin zones.’
The posters have appeared from Ballsbridge to Dublin 8 and are branded with Dublin City Council and Government logos.
Dublin City Council has confirmed that it did not put up the posters – and now plans to have them removed.
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The artists behind the poster campaign - Mála Spíosraí (Spicebag) and UK artist Patternup - say they aim to spark debate about drug use in the capital.
Spicebag told Newstalk that the campaign aims to use a "shocking poster to start a much-needed conversation" about drug reform.
The artist said the campaign aims to "raise awareness around the need for drug reform – especially in the realm of harm reduction, safe injection centres and proper funding for outreach".
Sinn Féin Councillor Daithi Doolan told Newstalk he feels the campaign is the wrong way to address the capital’s drug problem.
“I spoke to some of the people who claim to be putting up the posters – it is a character by the name of Spicebag,” he said.
“I debated the issue with him; I went and did a podcast with him and he raised some pertinent points, absolutely – but I think we actually need to take this issue seriously.
“I don’t think simply fly-posting will change the direction of government.”
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He said he understands people’s frustrations but does not support the campaign.
“I fully understand people’s frustration around the drugs crisis in Dublin and I understand that people are frustrated by the fact they feel marginalised forgotten and unheard around the drugs crisis,” he said.
“But I take a different view; I think what we need to do is we don’t need to put up posters that don’t have facts on them that are baseless and make claims that are untrue.”
In a post on Instagram, Spicebag said Cllr Doolan had “chosen to maintain an appearance of teacherly solemnity and decry our attempt to criticise government drug policy”.
He accused the Ballyfermot representative of leaving his days of activism behind him to, “appease the NIMBYs out in Ballsbridge and the likes”.
Reporting from Stephanie Rohan.
