Survey finds 3% of Irish people used cocaine

A new survey of cocaine use in Ireland has found that most users are young, male and at risk of developing a habit with the drug within 12 months of first using it.

It also found that 87 per cent of cocaine users took the drug despite feeling there was a great risk associated with it.

Minister of State with responsibility for the National Drugs Strategy Noel Ahern

The survey found that 3 per cent of adults in the Republic or Northern Ireland have used cocaine at some stage in their lifetime. Just over 1 per cent have used it in the last year, while 0.3 per cent took cocaine in the last month.

Twice as many men (4 per cent) as women (2 per cent) took cocaine at least once in their lives, and lifetime use among young people aged between 15 and 34 (4.7 per cent ) was more than three times the rate of use among those aged between 35 and 64 (1.4 per cent).

These findings are among the key results contained in the All Ireland Drug Prevalence Survey jointly commissioned by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs and the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in Belfast.

Speaking today, Minister of State with responsibility for the National Drugs Strategy Noel Ahern said the results showed cocaine had become the drug of choice for many young people, fuelled by the perception that it was in some way a "safe" drug.

"Such perceptions are false and dangerous and need to be countered", he said. "There needs to be a sustained effort from all responsible commentators to counter the glamorous perception that some people have of cocaine."

The results said that one in five of those people who had taken cocaine used it regularly. Two-thirds of them said they had since stopped taking it. Their reasons ranged from cost to simply not wanting to take it any more.

However, a third said they quit because of pressure from family or friends, a third stopped over health concerns, and nearly a quarter had to stop because of the impact of drug abuse on their work or social life.

Over three quarters bought their cocaine from someone they knew. Only eight per cent of users scored drugs from a stranger. Two-thirds of recent users considered if "very easy" or "fairly easy" to buy cocaine within 24 hours.