The Minister with responsibility for combating illegal drugs expressed concern yesterday at the rise in cocaine use following new research which indicates that more young people are using the drug.
A study by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs (NACD) shows that the number of people in Ireland and Northern Ireland who have used cocaine at some stage in their life has risen from 3 per cent to just over 5 per cent between 2002/3 and 2006/7.
During this period the number of young adults aged 15 to 34 who used cocaine at some stage in their life almost doubled from 4.5 per cent to 7.8 per cent.
Cannabis, however, continues to be the most widely-used illegal drug.
The report shows that the overall number of people who have used it increased from 17 per cent to 22 per cent.
Speaking at the launch of the findings, Minister Pat Carey said the figures underlined the need for targeted prevention and treatment programmes.
He said he had secured funding for a range of initiatives to tackle the cocaine problem, including an awareness campaign on the dangers of cocaine use.
Mr Carey said tackling cocaine use, as well as other drugs, would form part of a new seven-year National Drugs Strategy.
In the meantime he urged anyone thinking of dabbling with drugs to think long and hard about the consequences.
"It is crucial that people understand the health issues and other dangers associated with experimentation and dabbling with drugs.
"I also want to emphasise again the broader societal harm that can be caused by drug-use, including the criminal activity arising from the supplying of drugs and the disproportionate effect that this can have in disadvantaged areas."
The NACD report also shows that the number of people who have taken illegal drugs has risen from 19 per cent to almost 25 per cent in recent years.
After cannabis (22 per cent), the most commonly-reported drugs ever used were magic mushrooms (6 per cent), ecstasy (5 per cent), cocaine (5 per cent), amphetamines (4 per cent), poppers (3 per cent), LSD (3 per cent), solvents (2 per cent), crack cocaine (0.6 per cent) and heroin (0.4 per cent).
Commenting on the findings, NACD chairman Dr Des Corrigan emphasised that most people in Ireland have never used an illicit drug.
In relation to current use, he said figures continued to be low, with little change in recent years in the numbers who used illegal drugs in the last month.
While comparisons with Europe were difficult due to the lack of a standard recording approach, whatever relevant data there was indicated that Ireland was not at the top for any drug category.