Cocaine-related harm surges as 7% of adults report drug use
New data reveal that while overall drug use in Ireland has remained stable in recent years, as Dr Deridre Mongan outlines here, cocaine-related harm has escalated sharply.
2 min read - 2 Jul 2025
Recent findings from national health and drug monitoring systems managed by the Health Research Board (HRB) show cocaine use remains high in Ireland with significant increases in related harm since 2013.
While the overall prevalence of drug use has remained steady since 2019/20, the burden on the health system involving cocaine users remains high.
In 2023, 7.3% of the adult population, approximately 301,000 people, reported using an illicit drug in the past year.
Cannabis remains the most used substance (6.1%), followed by cocaine (2.0%), ecstasy (0.8%), magic mushrooms (0.8%), and ketamine (0.4%).
Young males
The data also highlight key demographic and behavioural patterns. Males aged 15–24 are most likely to use drugs, with one in four reporting use in the past year.
Higher rates of drug use are associated with being unemployed, not progressing beyond secondary-level education, being single, and being of Irish nationality.
Drug use is often accompanied by other health risks. Those who reported using drugs were more likely to smoke, (54% vs 18% of non-users); drink alcohol in a hazardous manner (71% vs 50%), and experience probable mental health problems (30% vs 12%).
Among highest in Europe
Cocaine-use has stabilised in terms of prevalence in recent years, but Ireland still ranks among the highest in Europe for use of this substance, and the consequences are increasingly visible across the healthcare system.
After a brief decline between 2007 and 2013, cocaine-related issues have increased steadily and significantly.
Psychiatric hospitalisations linked to cocaine use rose tenfold, from 0.24 per 100,000 in 2000 to 2.4 in 2022. These followed a similar pattern of early increase, mid-period decline, and a significant rise from 2011 to 2018, before levelling off.
Treatment entries for cocaine as the main problem drug increased at an average annual rate of 17.6%), from 1.5 to 93.2 per 100,000 between 2000 and 2023 with a particularly sharp rise since 2013.
Rising harm
These trends reflect a pattern of rising harm. Cocaine-related deaths rose almost 20-fold from 0.29 to 5.6 per 100,000 between 2000 and 2020.
While the overall rate of drug use has not increased since 2019, the intensifying impact of cocaine use on individuals and health services has risen sharply since 2013 and remains high.
This data highlights the need for targeted interventions that address both the social determinants of drug use and the specific harms associated with high-risk substances.
The data is published in two HRB publications:
Drug use in Ireland 2023, Findings from the Healthy Ireland Survey
2 min read - 2 Jul 2025
