There has been a 50% surge in the number of people seeking treatment for cocaine — marking the largest annual increase in what is a growing trend over the last seven years.

“I was in prison for 20 years, for selling heroin and robbing a bank. I’ve been in all the prisons in this country. I’ve seen a few father and sons in there, the most in Mountjoy.

Cork city is in the grips of an epidemic. Heroin use is rampant on the streets, with users taking the drug in the open, not caring who can see them. However, many are trying to get out of the habit, writes Liz Dunphy

Two men are still in Garda custody after a drug seizure in Co Louth.

Organisers of support meetings in which people who have recovered from addictions help others do the same could graduate to a position where professional trainers are no longer needed.

An allocation of €200,000 has been provided for the phased implementation of the new State health diversion system for possession of illegal drugs.

The seizure happened last Friday, October 11, and the illegal drugs were found in a package on arrival into the airport from South Africa.

Earlier this year, when a California jury awarded $2bn to a couple who claimed Roundup weed killer caused their cancer, it seemed a high point. It was the largest US jury verdict against the company in litigation over the chemical and is, unsurprisingly, being contested

More than 7,600 people received opioid-substitution treatment in the first six months of this year.

Children as young as 13 are getting caught up in the cocaine boom sweeping the country, an addiction counsellor has warned.

The decision by Dublin City Council to refuse planning permission for a new injecting centre for chronic heroin addicts is "reprehensible" and a represents “a dereliction of duty”.

According to counsellors at the Cuan Mhuire treatment centre for women, addiction to crack cocaine was unheard of until recent times.

There are better ways to deal with drug possession (for personal use) than putting the person behind bars.

A softer State response to personal drug use will cost €4m to €7m a year to operate, it is estimated.

An intensive street project aimed at diverting young people away from the drugs trade and criminal gangs faces the axe because of an impending funding crisis.

More than 50 drug workers say they are “seriously concerned” at expected Government proposals to keep possession of drugs for personal use a criminal offence.

The number of people seeking help for cocaine addiction has trebled since 2016, new treatment centre figures show.

Drug services in Cork City have noticed “increases in dangerous injecting practices” among drug users, according to new research.

Ireland is near the top of the table of 25 countries for opioid-related drug deaths, according to new research.

The comment comes after the Chief Superintendent of the Louth division said the country was "loaded" with the drug.

Almost 9,000 people were treated for problem drug use in 2017.

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.

Garda figures appear to indicate a sharp rise in the quantity of cocaine being trafficked into the country, replicating trends across Europe.

A State committee examining Ireland’s laws on the possession of drugs for personal use is thought to be favouring a diversion scheme, the Irish Examiner understands.

Turning a blind eye to homelessness and drug addiction is not Christian behaviour, says Gerard Howlin

Children as young as 12 used to collect drug debts, meeting hears

A well-known addiction centre dealt with twice as many people with problem cocaine use last year than it did in 2016.

Cormac O’Keeffe A massive investment in services for drug-users must accompany the decriminalisation of drugs for personal use, a coalition of local drug groups says.

Cannabis continues to be the most commonly used drug in Ireland.

In excess of €500m worth of drugs have been seized by European law enforcement agencies since the start of the year, reflecting a substantial increase in trafficking across the Atlantic and Mediterranean.

Four out of ten people on methadone, the legal substitute for heroin addiction, have been on the drug for at least 10 years.

A “dedicated” policing service must be part of a compensation package to communities and businesses affected by the State’s first injecting centre for heroin users, according to the head of the charity awarded the contract to run the service.

Addiction specialist Dr Garrett McGovren says the Portuguese who decriminalised drug use nearly 20 years ago have the lowest number of fatal overdoses in Europe.