Published: 01 January 2002
Trends in treated drug misuse in the Southern Health Board area, 1996-2000
This occasional paper contains information gathered by the National Drug Treatment Reporting System (NDTRS), an epidemiological database on treated drug misuse complied by the Drug Misuse Research Division (DMRD) of the Health Research Board (HRB). The data shows that between 1996 and 1999 the number of drug users presenting for treatment within the Southern Health Board (SHB) remained fairly stable at less than 300. This changed in 2000, with an increase of 66% to 429 clients. This was in part was due to an increase in service provision and also an increase in drug use. The socio-demographic data showed that the typical client is male, in his early twenties and living in the family home. Cannabis is the main drug causing problems (65% in 2000), with ecstasy the second most commonly used (15% in the same year). Opiate use rose from 5% in 1996 to 10% in 2000.