Cocaine overtakes heroin in treatment numbers for first time

Cocaine has overtaken heroin for the first time as the drug for which the highest number of people are seeking treatment, new figures from the Health Research Board (HRB) show.

The proportion of those in treatment due to cocaine addiction tripled in the years between 2015 and 2021 — from 10.4 per cent to 30.2 per cent (a 216.6 per cent increase), with the proportion of female cocaine users in treatment increasing from one in five to a quarter in the same period.

The report, 2015-2021 Drug Treatment Data, published on Monday, shows 69,450 people were in drug treatment in the seven years, rising from 9,892 in 2015 to 10,769 last year. Of these 3,248 were dealing with cocaine addiction and 3,168 were addicted to heroin.

Among those presenting for treatment for the first time last year, cocaine (38.4 per cent) was the main drug, followed by cannabis (35.2 per cent) and opioids (12.6 per cent) — including heroin and methadone. Cocaine has been increasing steadily as the main problem drug among new cases, by 214.8 per cent since 2016 when it accounted for 13.7 per cent of new presentations.

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The figures come less than a week after a separate HRB report found the number of young people presenting for problem cocaine use had increased by 171 per cent between 2011 and 2019, from 254 cases to 688.

Tipping point

Senior researcher at the HRB, Dr Suzi Lyons, said Irish addiction trends appeared to be at “tipping point” with the “sustained increase” in demand for “cocaine treatment year on year” since 2015.

“While we are seeing a decrease in the proportion of cocaine cases taking more than one drug, almost two-thirds are mixing cocaine with other drugs. This is a concern as mixing drugs can impact recovery and increase risk of overdose.”

Among cocaine users in treatment, the proportion in paid employment increased from 24 per cent to 34 per cent in the seven years. Crack cocaine accounted for 17 per cent of all cases where cocaine was a main problem — up from 9 per cent in 2015.

Drawing on data from the National Drug Treatment Reporting System researchers found opioids, including both heroin and methadone, were the most common main problem drug group reported last year but this proportion is decreasing — from 47.8 per cent of all cases in 2015 to 33.7 per cent last year.

This was followed by cocaine (30.2 per cent), cannabis (21.3 per cent) and benzodiazepines (11.3 per cent) — up from 8.8 per cent in 2015.

The proportion that had “ever injected” drugs is also decreasing — from 33.7 per cent in 2015 to 21 per cent last year, and of these last year 41.4 per cent had shared needles and syringes.

The median age of people in treatment increased from 30 to 32 over the seven years and for new cases it increased from 25 to 28. The proportion who were children, aged 17 or younger, fell from 6.9 per cent to 5.5 per cent.

Over the period, seven out of 10 people in treatment were male.

The proportion of cases recorded as homeless increased from 9.2 per cent in 2015 to 12.5 per cent last year, while the proportion from a Traveller background increased from 2.9 per cent to 3.4 per cent. Travellers account for about 0.6 per cent of the population.