Cocaine and Heroin Use Growing in Ireland

According to the Health Research Board, there had been a dramatic rise in the number of people treated for cocaine addiction in Ireland. The report suggests evidence of a growing heroin problem outside Dublin.

The research of heroin and cocaine treatment pinpoints the midlands, southeast and northeast as the areas facing the greatest problems. In Dublin, the heroin problem has reached saturation point, according to experts.

The Health Research Board report claims there has been a 177% increase in cocaine addiction treatment in the five years leading up to 2007, albeit starting from a very low base. Heroin addiction treatment cases increased by 31%.

Tony Geoghegan of Merchants Quay Ireland, an organization providing services to drug users, said the new national drug strategy needs to reflect the changes.

Despite the huge increase in cocaine use in recent years, experts predict that heroin addiction will further increase in the future as a result of economic difficulties.