Irish among Europe's heaviest cocaine users - Report

23/11/2006 - 14:49:03
Young Irish adults are among the heaviest users of cocaine in Europe, a major report published today reveals.

The survey showing drug prices are now cheaper than ever before across the continent highlights Ireland as one of the countries showing visible signs of a cocaine problem.

The drug now ranks ahead of speed and ecstasy as Europe’s most popular illegal substance after cannabis, according to the annual report of the EU drugs agency.

The Lisbon-based centre identified Ireland, along with the Denmark, Italy and the Netherlands, as among the main areas of concern for cocaine use.

Around 2% of young Irish people aged between 15 and 34 years had used the drugs last year, it said. The highest rates, at 4%, were in the UK and Spain.

It also recorded that between 5% and 10% of people coming forward for drug treatment in Ireland were seeking care for cocaine abuse.

Across Europe, cocaine-related treatment has doubled between 1999 and 2004 with around 12% of all demands for drug treatment now related to the drug.

“But as yet there is little consensus on what constitutes appropriate treatment for cocaine and crack cocaine problems,” the report warned.

The latest provisional figures from gardaí put seizures of the drug at €14m this year so far, compared to €16m for all of 2005.

Gardaí expect the amount of cocaine seized by the end of this year will easily surpass recoveries made last year.

At the launch of today’s report at the European Parliament in Brussels, the EU drugs agency also warned that information on cocaine-related deaths was poor.

It expressed concerns about the under-reporting of such deaths as well as the potential of the drug to aggravate existing heart problems.

There were also renewed fears about the spread of disease through the use of needles by injecting drug users.

While the prevalence of HIV infection remained low among needle users there was a high number of reported Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections.