Nicole Ryan has joined a campaign group Safer From Harm in an appeal for a more compassionate response to drug use in society.

Deaths linked to drug use reached a new high in 2017, with increases in cocaine fatalities and suicides contributing to the rise.

Gardaí and the DPP are examining applying cautions rather than pursuing criminal prosecutions for people caught in possession of drugs for personal use.

Cocaine users are being urged to take a “small test dose” and not to consume any more for at least two hours under a new State-backed awareness campaign.

Groups working at the coalface of the drugs problem are to lead calls today and tomorrow, in Dublin and Cork, for the decriminalisation of drug possession.

Demands for free condoms and advice about the drug, ecstasy, were the main concerns of young people at Electric Picnic’s first harm-reduction service for drug-users.

A leading drugs agency is to provide harm reduction advice for the first time to drug users attending Electric Picnic this weekend.

Three drug treatment services had to close temporarily because of problems in dealing with drug users taking new psychoactive substances (NPS).

Laws have been brought into force empowering gardaí to combat the booming trade in sedatives and sleeping tablets.

Gardaí are investigating whether the latest massive drug seizure is connected to the Hutch criminal grouping.

Legislation that could pave the way for the opening of supervised injecting rooms for drug users will be brought before the Dáil in the coming weeks, according to a government minister.

New HIV diagnoses in Ireland increased to the highest level on record in 2015 and they are linked to the use of a drug called ‘snow blow’.

Community groups have welcomed plans in the Programme for Government to consider setting up “mini” Criminal Assets Bureaus for areas hit by gangs and drugs.

A video chronicling the story surrounding the death of a young drug-user has emerged victorious in a media competition highlighting youth drug issues which received a record number of entries this year.

Outgoing drugs strategy minister Aodhán Ó’Ríordáin has joined calls for action on the drugs problem after three suspected drug-related deaths in the last week.

An awareness campaign that offers third-level students advice on drug-taking has been launched.

Controlled injection centres for drug users are one option for tackling Ireland's drug abuse problem, according to the hosts of a drug policy workshop.

Ireland needs to introduce a national overdose strategy — first promised back in 2009 — an addiction agency has said.

Warnings are being issued regarding the life-threatening danger of inhaling butane gas — with drug agencies noticing a resurgence in recent years.

Fifteen injecting drug users in Dublin have recently been infected with HIV, with another case considered probable, the HSE has confirmed.

The HSE has set up a special intervention team in response to a rise in new HIV cases among homeless drug users in Dublin City.

Senior gardai have privately told drugs minister Aodhán Ó Ríordáin they face an “impossible situation” battling open drug use on the streets and that current approaches “aren’t working”.

About 600 heroin users are to be given a life-saving antidote in cases of overdoses, under a HSE project aimed at reducing drug deaths.

Heroin addicts should be allowed to legally inject their drug in a medically supervised setting, drugs minister Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has said.

New drugs minister Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said Ireland needed to “think differently” about how it approached the problem — and people with an addiction should be dealt with by the health service, rather than the criminal justice system.

A drug project has welcomed a statement from a government TD calling for supervised centres where people can inject drugs.

Gardaí have made what is thought to be the second largest haul of heroin in an operation targeting an Irish-organised crime gang with international connections.

A baby is born addicted to alcohol or illegal drugs such as heroin and cocaine every 10 days here.

A project shows real-life contemporary users in designer clothes talking about the physical, mental and emotional toll that the drug takes on them. Liz Dunphy reports.

A leading addiction service has sought the expertise of the Bar Council to draft proposed laws which would allow addicts to legally inject heroin in a medical setting.

Drug addicts who are dealing to feed their own habit should be diverted into treatment rather than prosecuted before the courts, according to an addiction service.

Gardaí have dealt a blow to a drug-dealing gang supplying highly dangerous chemicals.

The Government is being urged to provide medically supervised injecting centres for drug addicts to cut the number of deaths.

The number of people seeking treatment for addiction to benzodiazepines has more than doubled since 2009, according to figures released by the Health Service Executive.

Drug-related deaths would fall and public injecting would decrease if consumption rooms were set up, two national groups have said.

The EU drugs agency has published a report backing the controversial provision of heroin to chronic addicts.

A DRUG project plans to set up the country’s first consumption room to allow users inject drugs under medical supervision.

COCAINE use has risen in recent weeks due to a chronic shortage of heroin, drug treatment services have said.