The main barriers preventing women seeking treatment for drug use include a lack of creche facilities and fears they will be seen as unfit mothers, according to a new report into drug use here.
The series of papers published by the Health Research Board also reveals that women treated for drug abuse are more likely than men to inject drugs and to engage in risky behaviour, such as sharing needles.
In a study on cocaine use, the report finds a "clear and consistent" increase in the numbers of people using cocaine among those who come forward for drug treatment, although opiates are still the main drug for which treatment is sought.
"Early warning signs" now provide an opportunity to "get ahead" of any potential cocaine problem, the report says.
A Collection of Papers on Drug Issues in Ireland, published by the Drug Misuse Research Division of the Health Research Board, also looks at the drug-related infectious diseases, including HIV, hepatitis B and C, cocaine use and the relationship between women, children and drug use.
A lack of childcare facilities may be a barrier to women seeking drug treatment, Ms Eimear Farrell, author of one paper in the report suggests.
Only nine of 45 drug-treatment centres in the city provided creche facilities. HIV-positive women were also less likely to seek treatment, owing in part to fears of being judged unfit parents and of having their children taken into care.
A report on cocaine use by Ms Paula Maycock says there is a "clear and consistent" increase in the number of those receiving treatment for its misuse between 1995 and 1998. Individuals with a cocaine problem were more likely to be male.
But many of those using cocaine may not, the report suggests, have contact with drug treatment services as they see their use of the drug, mainly in a social context, as non-problematic. Interviews carried out with drug service staff, youth workers, gardai, nightclub owners, counsellors and GPs found a belief that cocaine is becoming more easily available.
There was a "conspicuous upsurge" in the proportion of urine samples revealing quantities of cocaine during the end of 1999 and early 2000, among those involved in providing methadone treatment for heroin use.
While many of those interviewed for the study expressed concern about cocaine's prevalence, they also felt that they had no concrete evidence of its emergence as a major issue, compared to the problem of heroin and other drugs. Its use has not yet reached "epidemic proportions", the report says.
Usage was strongly linked to economic factors and those with higher disposable income were far more likely to use it monthly or weekly. Users believed cocaine did not result in the negative after-effects associated with other drugs, such as physical or psychological exhaustion.
Most had no reservations about using cocaine, provided they felt relatively "self-assured" about its source. Most would avoid buying the drug from a stranger. They did not consider their own behaviour around drugs was comparable to the behaviour, personal or social conditions of individuals with drug problems.
The study suggests the results are an "early warning sign" of cocaine's emergence, providing an opportunity to monitor the situation and to "get ahead" of it. "In this context, a cautious response to possible signs of increased cocaine use is more appropriate than either outright rejection of the possibility, or hysteria and over reaction."