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 are investigating one sexual crime and detected more than 450 drug offences at the Electric Picnic festival.

In a statement, the Garda Laois-Offaly Division said they had confiscated cocaine, ketamine, LSD and MDMA (ecstasy).

Garda investigations into the circumstances surrounding the death of a 19-year-old at a music festival over the weekend are continuing.

The head of services at the Ana Liffey Drug Project has called on young people attending festivals and concerts to avail of welfare services if they are feeling unwell after taking drugs.

The precarious position Keith Byrne finds himself in highlights the issue at the heart of developments here on how to deal with personal drug use.

The Government will today formally announce proposals which it claims mark “the biggest shift” in the State’s approach to drug use.

The Government should get a detailed legal opinion on a determination that decriminalisation of drug possession was not legally possible, a drug charity has said.

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

Community groups at the frontline of the drugs crisis are making a final push in urging a State group to recommend decriminalisation of 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.

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.

The HSE has launched the search for a facility in Dublin where drug users can inject themselves in a safe environment.

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

Supervised injecting centres do not have a ‘honeypot effect’ in attracting drug users, according to the report of a drug policy summit.

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.

Gardaí face huge challenges in policing supervised injecting centres, and legal issues need to be “teased out” before they are introduced, a senior officer has said.

An intensive intervention programme by statutory and voluntary agencies has had significant successes in improving the lives of the street drug users and reducing their anti-social behaviour and criminality.

‘Rural Addiction’ is a powerful and penetrating look at drug addiction and the support services available in rural Ireland today, says documentary maker Geoff Power

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.

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

Motorists who have consumed drugs in the week before getting behind the wheel could be convicted under new drug-driving laws — even if they are not under the influence at the time of detection.

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”.

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 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.

Budding young journalists and producers could win €2,000 if their work scoops a prize at the National Youth Media Awards.

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.

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.

Seizures of ecstasy jumped in 2013, while hauls of cannabis and cocaine fell significantly, official figures show.

DRUGS Minister Róisín Shortall has said the suicide of a young man after a drink-fuelled night out highlighted the need to address the problem of cheap alcohol.