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Over the next four days, TheJournal.ie will take a look at Ireland’s relationship with illegal substances. More people in Ireland are using drugs than ever before. We’ll look at why that is… and the possible consequences.
DRUG-TAKING IN IRELAND, particularly of the illicit variety has increased steadily in recent years, but the statistics suggest that the kinds of substances we’re taking haven’t really changed.
Cannabis, ecstasy and cocaine are still the drugs of choice and more and more young men and women are choosing them.
Broadly speaking, the most significant drug statistics in Ireland come from the government-appointed Health Research Board (HRB), surveys regarding usage trends produced by the National Advisory Council on Drugs and Alcohol (NACDA), and crime statistics produced by the gardaí and released by the CSO.
The HRB, whose figures feed up to EU level and are appropriated by the Union’s European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), reports on actual trends in drug-taking, together with changes in policy, legislation, and treatment on a yearly basis.
Commonly-used
Its most recent Drugs Ireland publication for 2017 suggests that the most commonly used illicit substances, based on usage over the previous month, are cannabis (4% of people aged 15-64), ecstasy/MDMA (1%), and cocaine (0.5%).
Meanwhile, the numbers of Irish people aged 15-64 who have used an illicit drug in their lifetime has increased to a large extent over the past 15 years – from 19% in 2003 to 31% in 2015, the most recent year surveyed.
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Cannabis, easily the most used drug, and ecstasy have seen their usage among all people aged 15 or greater roughly doubled since 2007, with cocaine usage roughly the same as previously.
The most recent survey of Irish drug-taking behaviour was conducted by the NACDA for 2015.
It suggested that cannabis is by some distance the most popular drug in Ireland, with a lifetime prevalence (ie a proportion of the entire population who have used it at some stage in their lives) standing at 27.9%, 7.7% of those in the last year.
Ecstasy usage is the other greatest outlier in that survey, having more than quadrupled from 0.9% to 4.4% among those surveyed in the four years to 2015.
Male users dominate in all categories, with one in four aged between 15 and 24 having used an illegal drug in the previous 12 months, compared with one in eight females.
Legislative changes
As of 2015, the use of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS), such as so-called N-Bombs bought in head shops, had decreased steadily from 3.5% to 0.8% after the introduction of legislative changes designed to curtail their use.
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Of those still accessing those substances, school students aged 15-16 dominate, with roughly 8% having tried an NPS during their lifetimes, some distance ahead of the EU average.
In fact, ‘statistically significant increases’ in the usage of illegal drugs across a lifetime were seen among all those aged between 35 and 64 who were surveyed by NACDA – up 5% to 25.6% in just four years.
Similarly, those aged between 15 and 34 reported significant increases in their usage in the last year and the last month categories for all drugs, but most particularly ecstasy, which jumped from 1% to nearly 4.5% for those who had taken it in the previous year.
Conclusion? A lot of Irish people like to take drugs, and the number is growing all the time. But newer drugs are less en vogue, with cannabis and ecstasy ruling the roost by some distance. Ecstasy use is very much on the rise for younger adults however.
As regards drug treatment services, users of heroin and cannabis are the most likely to avail of such rehabilitation programmes – 41% of people availing of same in 2015 were users of heroin, 28% were cannabis users.
When it comes to treatment, Irish men are more than twice as likely, in all drug categories bar amphetamines (ecstasy), as women to receive treatment from a dedicated service.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, among younger people, in the 15-16 age bracket the use of different kinds of drugs is a bit more evenly spread. Of those teenagers who have taken an illicit substance in their lifetime, 19% have used cannabis, while 10% have used inhalants (petrol, glue), and 8% have tried New Psychoactive Substances.
Mortality rate
In the context of drug-induced deaths, Ireland’s rate (214 in 2014) is amongst the highest in the EU, behind only Estonia, Sweden and Norway per head of population. 78% of those who died in Ireland in 2014 were male.
Ireland’s national drugs strategy has been in place since 2009. The most recent rendition, from 2017, took an approach to drugs of ‘reducing harm’, with a stated goal of ‘promoting healthier lifestyles within society’ via an ‘integrated public health approach to drug and alcohol use.
Put simply, that means managing the law and the control of illicit substances effectively, while responding to ‘evolving trends’ effectively, as in the case of the anti-NPS legislative changes implemented.
At present, Ireland’s government expenditure regarding illegal drugs is roughly 0.09% of GDP, about €237,000 – 73% of which goes on the reduction of demand, as opposed to slashing supply routes.
Despite this, the rate of drug-taking in Ireland increases ever upwards.
As regards drug offences, the CSO’s official data (which currently is declared as being ‘under reservation’ due to issues surrounding the validity of Garda statistics) indicates that drug crime is split starkly between possession for personal use (75%) and the supply side of things (25%). As of the first three months of 2018 that trend continued, with personal use accounting for 71% of all drug crimes.
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Legalise cannabis and mdma, once it’s coming from a reputable source. The follow the Portugal model and decriminalize cocaine and heroin. The tax raised on the first two pays for treatment centres on the last two.
@Dermot Quinn: that’s an awful lot of common sense that you’re speaking there
I’d be in favour of legalising drugs to an extent, the three mentioned about would not bother me too much with cannabis and mdma being no brainers IMO. It’s just where to draw the line with the likes of heroin, crack and meth? Interested to see what ideas other people have on the subject?
@Headtheball: legalising them all would better. If the big ones are illegal, the dealers would be pushing them more onto kids.
@Headtheball: hears an idea maybe we should look at why we have such a sick society that people are turning to this shxt.
@Tom Ryan: What about alcohol Tom? Just as bad if not worse.
@David Quigley:
totally agree
@David Quigley: And cigarettes
@Headtheball: drugs ruin lives
@Headtheball: drugs ruin lives fact!
@Headtheball: personally I favour treatment and education over prohibition and punishment. I have been lucky in that my personal experience of being around drugs, and of taking drugs, has been informed and moderated by my social circumstances. At the same time however, I don’t have faith in Irish politics to bring in an effective legalised system to minimise overall harm to the public. The profiteering without regulation of the legalisation of weed in the states has made cannabis more of a problem than it should be while prescription drugs have become even more of a scourge. I think for the moment, a soft decriminalisation of weed is the safest tentative step we can take, given that we have massive social issues with alcoholism and social inequality to deal with
@*The* Brendan Gordon: Not to sound selfish or anything, but, I don’t have those massive problems you mention, personally. How can I be of help to those that do? At the same time, how can I continue to progress fairly (as in, if now’s a good time for drugs to be legalised purely from my perspective) down the road? Do I have to wait for drunken Larry down the road to agree to a stint in rehab?
@Joe Phillips: dunno why I said down the road twice there. It’s early
@Headtheball: Portuguese model is best. Which if we proposed we could look forward to its implementation in…oh Id say 2040- we dont even have a legal injection centre.
The mental health services are teeming with people who have gotten into severe drug related psychosis this includes cannabis which through misuse causes schizophrenic type illness please think before you post drugs kill and maim legalising them will not change that
@Sean Salmon: False
@Treabhair Coulahan: explain please I’ve been in the mhs myself for 20 odd years I’ve seen drug users come very very regularly and are extremely ill from drug use
@Sean Salmon: Legalizing will not change this but does allow the user to know what you are buying. The type, strength etc. Drugs aren’t going away so to continue fighting them seems like a pointless battle
@Sean Salmon: rubbish
@Sean Salmon: Sean’s right. My cousin knew this girl who’s sister took 2 pulls off a joint and her heart exploded.
There was also that guy from the Midlands who got so stoned he though he was a donor kebab and he ate himself to death.
So dangerous.
Ppl need to listen to Sean before its too late
@Sean Salmon: I was talking to a doctor lately who thinks the link to schizophrenia and weed is a case of people who have mental health issues already self medicating as opposed to weed causing them to become schizophrenic she studied the subject for a few years and believes cannabis to be a safe substance…as do I!
@David Quigley: i understand your point about drugs not going away but if we turn our back on all of society ills that are prevalent where does that leave us. I don’t have a solution for the drug crisis alot has been tried in different countries without reducing the damage to the individual that drugs cause
@Damo: this is absolutely spot on
@Sean Salmon: you need more education on cannabis Sean.
@Sean Salmon: Which is why the “war on drugs” is a financial vacuum. I don’t think legalizing is turning our backs on them. Walk through Dublin cc in the evening,people passed out everywhere. This isn’t from weed or mdma. By spending time and money fighting this we are letting in whatever it is these guys are taking now.
@Sean Salmon: Possibly need more statistics for your argument, no doubt its getting stronger but we have no real say over strengths or quality due to the illegality of it, are there any figures to show new cases of schizophrenia as a result of cannabinoids? ’214 people died in 2014′.. what did they die from? shouldn’t we target those substances? etc. How many people died from alcohol, tobacco, how much is that costing the state, versus how much are we spending on catching teenagers with 10 spots, and so on. Again and again Cannabis is the go-to culprit for a lot of nasty man made chemicals, all we do is slow down research an development in to the benefits (which we are starting to see) from this ‘plant’ many of which are in ares concerning mental health, neurological disorders, etc (oh the irony).
@Sean Salmon: people chose to ignore good advice and if you want to know how many stupid people there are just take a look at legal cigarette smokers.. you will always find someone dumb enough to defend drugs
@Sean Salmon: any evidence Sean?
@Sean Salmon: serious question, in your 20 years in mental health services, roughly what percentage of patients requiring mental health services have not been drug users?
Never had an interest in these drugs, but I’m not much of a drinker either … but I do feel this stuff should not be illegal to get sales out of the networks of criminal gangs so it becomes taxable. I suppose criminal gangs will then try lowers prices. Hard to tell if making the stuff legal increases health problems. A lot of campaigning on the health benefits of cannabis too, as well as potential hazards, but alcohol gets similar with “its good for this … bad for that”.
@WoodlandBard: they will just sell it cheaper than the legal stuff! Look at cigarettes…..
@GerryCummins: what percentage of smokers do you think buy counterfeit cigarettes? I’d guess less than 20%. But apart from those who grow their own all weed smokers have to buy theirs illegally.
Id say over 80% of weed bought in Holland is done so legally.
The customer will always rather buy from a trustworthy source, even if you have to pay more for quality. Even with tobacco, most counterfeit cigarettes are very poor quality.
IMO the responsible drug users are in the minority. Prime example would be D8 and ALT, every night they were open there was murder outside them. As for hash and grass the majority of users are wasters who need to roll 2 before they go to sleep, 1 so they can sleep and the other to lite up before they open their eyes in the morning. And the health benefits are bull if you are “smoking” the stuff it’s just as bad as tobacco. If tobacco was illegal their is no way in hell would we be even thinking of legalizing it. But between the amount of people addicted to cigarettes and the tax revenue from smokes they won’t be made illegal any time soon. As for alcohol it’s the drink to get drunk culture that needs to change its fine in moderation.
@BAINNE ATHA CLIATH: I also know people who claim they can’t sleep without a joint. Overall my friends who smoked a lot did worse in life than those who didn’t smoke or only occasionally smoked.
@SC: I know people who can’t string a sentence together from one end of the day to the other! To say it has no long term effect is ridiculous!
@BAINNE ATHA CLIATH: my god man! I hope you’re only trolling and don’t actually believe any of that sh*t you’re trying to shovel! The 1950s called, they want their logic back !!
@GerryCummins: so you hate drugs because the witty conversations you are missing out on?
@BAINNE ATHA CLIATH: I know someone who hadn’t slept in 11 years! and was on suicide watch as a result, against the advice of medical professionals he tried hi CBD strain, which changed his life. What a waster.
@Justfor theJournal: what part is wrong?
If cigarettes were illegal would the government be thinking of making them legal?
Smoking anything is bad for your health.
Go stand across the road from D8 at 3am any night it’s on. It’s carnage. Of course there are people who smoke weed moderately with no long term effects and without it turning them into wasters but they are the minority. As for coke fine me someone who takes it without becoming an ahole/ psycho.
Personally I think Ireland should follow suit with how Amsterdam is dealing with the use of substances. The use of smart shops and information on how to take drugs in a safe manner. Drugs like MDMA, Cannabis and Cocaine should be legalised. There is no deaths if used in a safe manner, going by 1mg/1.5mg per KG of your body weight.
@Karl Markey: you know very little about Amsterdam mate that’s just a phrase you grasped from others .. if you actually knew anything it’s still illegal to grow cannabis is holland and as far as Amsterdam is concerned they have closed over 1200 shops in the last 10 years it’s down from 2000 to only about 800 now .. also looked at brining in a law to ban foreigners from buying cannabis as well. You’re knowledge is outdated and skewed .. Amsterdam doesn’t want drug tourism anymore. They are busy changing to a family focused top tourist destination now not a cesspool for druggies
Can anyone hook me up? #NotACop
@Danny Sherrard: sorry there is a drought. #NotADealer
Alcohol is so much worse then Cannabis. I would go as far to say Alcohol is the worst drug of them all – yet it is socially accepted and sure drinking is great. We love it. You wouldn’t go home and beat up your partner after a feed of joints…that’s all I’m saying.
Do you know what ruins life’s is bullying anti-social behaviour, broken homes ,sexual abuse , rape, social exclusion and all the rest I am a recovering addict of 17 years and I was bad I saw a girl murdered in front of me in a night club I watched my best mate jump into the shannon river and he was gone in seconds. Found 2 months later. I took everything and I mean everything.
People need to stop being so judge mental and try and analyse a person’s life. None of us want to die. We follow by example and we have such a bad example. It’s a crime. Ireland 2018.
Guys stay away from this kind of drugs, they are evil!
@Dr. Udaya Khandavilli: cannabis is evil ?? Be quiet ya fool
Why are the over 64’s excluded from your “All Adults” statistics?
We sixties heads could smoke ye under the table..
Shows you how ignorant people are.. they taking drugs and have no idea of its composition and toxins.. the waste products from the manufacture of MDM ecstasy is a toxic biohazard and he drug is a known killer so as they say ignorance is bliss till they pay the ultimate price of mental illness or death
The Headline of this article includes the words “…what did we take before?” Then there’s not one single mention in the article of what people ‘took before’ present-day drugs.
All the comments below the article above are a boring continuation of the previous discussion under the first of a four-part series the Journo is publishing this week… also not one mention in the comments above of what people took before.
My view is that the Journo is pushing/excusing use of present-day illegal drugs under guise of “recreational” stuff, worthy of intensive attentions of the protectors of peace in our country – our Gardaí. For that we should all be, as a society of people, be ‘en-garde’ for the safety of our families.
Taking illegal drugs might be a temporally cheeky exciting false recreation for some but taking illegal drugs is ultimately damaging to most peoples’ own lives and health, to one’s own family life and especially to our country’s society at large, with huge strains on our hospitals and mental healthcare personnel – and all the taxation of ordinary people to provide for the caring of people innocuously, unknowingly self-harming under guises of “social recreation”.
I honestly believe that every person being charitably soup-fed or tin-fed food on the streets and fields of Ireland should be kicked up out of their selfish “poor me” misery and trained to care for and look after themselves first. If you don’t look after yourself first, you can’t look after anyone else of our Irish communities. The “poor me” mentality has to be fiercely kicked in the painful reality groin.
Just to rack the discussion up to truths… Before, down-and-out people drank cheap meths (methylated spirits) that legal chemist shops sold ; opium in various forms was also used by some upper classes, though rarely available in Ireland in the early days of expensive air and shipping costs (Afghanistan was the main opium producing country, before its wars). Many with money would drink sherry or port with breakfast.
Illicit poitín was available galore too, with the authorities cracking down on its manufacture, distribution and consumption. Rightly so… an uncle of mine told me of a party he was at where he drank copious amounts of poitín, woke up in the middle of the night, pains in his guts, hurriedly stumbled to the WC room and told me that when he got there, he was in such a bad state that he didn’t know which end to put in the bowl first. He didn’t complete his story, left it up to imagination…
Then there was a popular phase for home-brewed wine, easy to make with the right, cheaply available equipment and ingredients, with end-production costs of about 50p a litre bottle. I used to make home-brewed wine, so I know this.
I’m not old enough to know much more about “what did we take before?”… This is probably the same reason the young writer of the article above fails to mention it too. Interesting but depressing statistics in the article though… looking forward to the next two Journo instalments on the topic.
Hopefully, at least one of the two remaining instalments will hammer home the utter futility and ruinous nature of present-day illegal drugs.
Then there might be follow-up inquiring articles on “what will we (and our children and grandchildren) take in the future?”
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