Irish rise in cocaine use highest in Europe

Cocaine use is increasing at a higher rate in Ireland than in any other developed country, according to a new report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The UNODC World Drugs Report 2007 ranks Ireland among the top five countries for cocaine use increase, and the only developed nation where cocaine has experienced a "large increase" in use.

The other countries where cocaine use is rapidly increasing are significantly less prosperous than Ireland, comprising the Latin American countries of Venezuela, Bolivia and El Salvador and the West African nation of Senegal.

Ireland's rise in cocaine use comes at a time when the international market for the drug has stabilised.

The area of farmland under coca cultivation has decreased by nearly 30 per cent since 2000, and the areas of cultivation in Colombia specifically have decreased by more than half, the report states.

Levels of cocaine use are higher in North America than in Europe, however the consumer market in the US is no longer expanding while a number of European countries are showing an increase in use.

"Cocaine is making worrying inroads into new and growing markets. Consumption increased significantly in Europe, doubling or tripling in several countries over the last decade."

While Ireland has the highest growth in the number of users in Europe, it does not yet have the highest levels of cocaine use. Spain records the highest proportion of cocaine users at 3 per cent of its population, while the figure for Ireland is 1.1 per cent, lagging behind Britain and Italy. However, in these countries cocaine use is not increasing at the same rate as in Ireland.

Ireland is also showing an increase in heroin use, while in most of the rest of Europe use of heroin and other opiates is either stable or on the decline, according to the report.

The Europe Against Drugs network (Eurad) said the report exposed the failure of the Government to take Ireland's cocaine problem seriously.

"This report highlights something we are very aware of and it's a great indictment of the Government.

"It has been in power over the last 10 years while this drug problem has got steadily worse," Eurad president Gráinne Kenny said.

The Government had concentrated resources in methadone clinics and had failed to address the drug problem holistically, she said.