A coroner has warned that Northern Ireland's drug problem is "getting beyond control."
Coroner Patrick McGurgan's comment came during an inquest into the death of a west Belfast man who died after taking heroin in the toilets of a city centre fast food restaurant.
Brendan McKernan, from Laurelbank in Poleglass, was found collapsed in a toilet cubicle in McDonalds at Donegall Place in Belfast city centre on February 18 last year.
The 31-year-old was found slumped against the cubicle door and unresponsive at around 6.40pm by a customer who then alerted staff in the restaurant.
A syringe, some tablets and other drug paraphernalia were also found in the cubicle.
Paramedics who arrived at the scene managed to resuscitate the welder, who was initially taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital before being transferred to the intensive care unit at Belfast City Hospital.
However he never regained consciousness and died five days later after medics declared him brain dead.
An inquest into Mr McKernan's death yesterday heard that the 31-year-old was also found to have Alprazolam and Diazepam in his system.
Dr Peter Ingram, Assistant State Pathologist for Northern Ireland, said the combination of drugs in his system had a toxic effect.
He said all three drugs would have had a "depressed effect on the brain" which resulted in Mr McKernan's breathing gradually slowing before ceasing, causing him to suffer a cardiac arrest and collapse.
He said that he would also have suffered "irreversible brain damage" due to the length of time he spent without oxygen.
He added: "There was really no chance of survival".
The court heard Mr McKernan had been prescribed Diazepam as a teenager to help with a speech impediment.
Over the years, as his drug addiction grew, he had asked repeatedly to be referred to rehab. However after waiting at least six months, his father paid for him to be admitted to a private rehab unit in Co Donegal.
After spending four weeks there, he was released in November 2016 and returned home "a new person" however in the following months, it emerged he was using drugs again.
Coroner Patrick McGurgan yesterday found that Mr McKernan - who had become a father for the first time three weeks before his death - had died as a result of an "accidental overdose".
Mr McGurgan also issued a stark warning about drug use.
"Yet again, here we have another family left devastated all because of the scourge of drugs in Northern Ireland," he said.
"The drug problem in Northern Ireland is getting beyond control.
"Young people in particular seem to believe that they are invincible when it comes to drugs and Brendan's death only serves to remind us that if you do end up with an addiction, the likelihood is you are going to end up dead".
Mr McGurgan said Mr McKernan's family were also to be "commended" for deciding to donate his organs in the aftermath of his death. As a result, the lives of four people were saved.
Speaking to the Irish News, Mr McKernan's sister, Charlene Quinn said her brother's death had been "devastating" for the family.
She said drugs had "robbed" her brother of a life and appealed to anyone engaged in drug use to "get help and get off them".
The Crumlin woman said her brother had been let down by the NHS by not receiving a referral for rehab, forcing the family to pay for him to go private.
"There's not enough help available," she said. "He was waiting six months to be referred. He was desperate. He wanted to change his life around, especially for his wee baby".
Ms Quinn described her brother as someone who was "very loving, he would never hang up the phone without telling you he loved you".
"They (drugs) just ruined his life. We are just lost".
Mr McKernan is the second drugs death in the toilets of McDonald's in Belfast city centre.
Gary Patrick McAuley (34), from Brookvile Court in north Belfast, died after injecting himself with heroin in the toilets of the Donegall Place restaurant in February 2016
