28-05-2025
Women seeking help for cocaine use up 426% new research finds
New Health Research Board figures reveal a record high of 13,295 people were treated for problem drug use in 2024, with cocaine accounting for almost half of cases.
Since 2017, there has been a 250% increase in people receiving treatment for cocaine as their main problem drug, while the number of women seeking treatment for cocaine use has risen 426% to 1,494 cases last year.
Professor Colin O'Gara, a consultant psychiatrist who specialises in addiction medicine at St John of God Hospital, said while the rise is alarming, there may be a 'silver lining'. 'More women accessing treatment is a good thing,' he said. Since 2017, there has been a 250% increase in people receiving treatment for cocaine as their main problem drug. Pic: Shutterstock
'This has always been an issue, and women were under-represented in treatment samples. This is reflecting the fact that more women are getting to treatment. Drug use has a heavy stigma with it, and the stigma is more so on women. They don't get treatment services as easily as men.'
He said the increase in cocaine use was 'extremely worrying', adding: 'Cocaine use has surpassed the peak of what we would have seen during the height of the Celtic Tiger. When the economy is strong, cocaine will always be strong.
'Since 2016, there's been a year-on-year increase in cocaine. Ireland is up there in nearly every survey at the very top in terms of European and global consumption of cocaine. That's extremely worrying. The number of women seeking treatment for cocaine use has risen 426% to 1,494 cases last year. Pic: Getty Images
'We're told by our patients that it is incredibly easy to get cocaine, and in recent years it's been normalised and glamourised. I see, especially with 20-year-old age groups, it's just seen as a very minor thing.
'Whereas cocaine can cause all kinds of difficulties with the cardiovascular system, it's associated with stroke, particularly in young people. It causes devastating neurological issues and cardiac arrhythmias. I would see that a lot in young people.'
The HRB's report, Drug Treatment Demand In Ireland 2024,' found a 300% increase in people returning for cocaine treatment as their main problem drug from 692 cases in 2017, to 2,764 cases in 2024.
Prof. O'Gara blamed Ireland's pub culture and 'repetitive binge drinking', adding: 'The gateway drug of all the drugs is alcohol.'
