The Government was criticised for failing to publicly endorse its own expert report on alcohol.

CANNABIS users are exposing themselves to “higher risks of psychosis” by smoking super-strong homegrown herbal cannabis.

Herbal cannabis cultivated in sophisticated grow houses across Ireland is more likely to cause psychosis than imported herb and resin, it has emerged.

A new report out today says Irish-grown cannabis has stronger potency than the imported variety, and it is therefore more likely to cause psychotic episodes.

COCAINE use remains relatively high — contrary to the belief the recession had led to a slump in the consumption of the Celtic Tiger drug.

ACTIVE drug use is increasing among men but is falling among women, a survey has revealed.

Cocaine use may have peaked in Ireland, latest figures suggest.

Health chiefs have been ordered to carry out an investigation into the widespread prescription of powerful tranquillisers across Ireland.

Young men are having a harder time dealing with the recession and might be using drugs to cope.

A new study on drug use in Ireland shows that current levels of illegal drug use were mainly stable over the last five years.

A GOVERNMENT clampdown on the sale of cheap alcohol will not have a “significant impact” on jobs, junior minister Roisín Shortall has said.

Children of drug addicts are suffering in desperation as shame and secrecy shroud the substance misuse in families, it was claimed today.

Drugs Minister Roisin Shorthall said today that she wants to clampdown on supermarkets who sell cheap alcohol to attract consumers.

A 56-YEAR-OLD German is believed to be the “big fish” in an international drugs gang which had been storing 80kg of cocaine in a shed in a remote village in Co Cork.

BANNED head shop drugs are still widely available on the internet, while Customs officials have made 23 seizures already this year, it emerged yesterday.

A new study by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs has prompted the call for renewed efforts to tackle the sale of illegal 'headshop drugs' online.

ADOLESCENTS cannot be “inoculated” from risky behaviour such as taking drugs and drinking alcohol, a conference has heard.

An attempt to legalise cannabis in California has prompted some to ask if it is time for a fresh debate about the issue, writes Kerrie Kennedy .

TEENAGERS who leave school early are up to 14 times more likely to use certain drugs as their peers who stay on to do their Leaving Cert.

HEROIN is deepening its grip across the country with record numbers of new addicts outside Dublin looking for help.

HOW things have changed.

A HEAD SHOP drug available here is set to be banned in Britain after drug advisers there said it could “causeserious harm”.

SEVERE staff cutbacks at the state’s drugs research body have had a “very serious and damaging effect”, the Government’s top drug adviser has said.

FOR something not fit for human consumption, it’s a strange sales pitch: “Introducing our New Party Powder, Pure NRG. This 1 gram Party Powder gives a little lift to any party and keeps you going all night long.”

FINE GAEL has said urgent legislation is needed to ensure no new drugs could be sold in head shops without the approval of food or medicine authorities.

A STUDY on the level of drug use in prisons and the possible need for needle exchanges in jails will begin this autumn under the terms of a tender issued this week.

ALBERT Einstein’s defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” It is a fitting description of our drug strategy in this country.

THE Government’s advisory group on drugs is to investigate the experience of hospital emergency departments & treating patients suffering ill-effects from using head shop substances, as well as question users of the legal highs.

A SECOND order banning a further range of head shop drugs is due to be brought in by early autumn, the Irish Examiner understands.

A NATIONWIDE Garda crackdown on head shops will continue today after a ban on a wide range of so-called “legal highs” was announced by the Department of Health.

THE European Union’s drug and police agencies have launched a joint investigation into amphetamine-type ‘legal highs’ on sale in head shops and over the internet.

THE Government’s drug advisory body has recommended an entire range of synthetic cannabis chemicals sold in head shops be banned.

THE country’s top drug adviser yesterday told parents giving their children a “free gaff” was a “disaster waiting to happen” in terms of drug use.

THE Minister for Drugs has signalled he will use legislation to curb the sale of legal drugs currently being sold in alternative lifestyle shops.

DRUGS experts and frontline workers are set to present the Government with a detailed submission outlining concerns about shops which are selling legal forms of drugs.

HEALTH workers and heroin users have been put on alert over the possible circulation of a deadly batch of heroin contaminated with anthrax, which has already claimed seven lives in Scotland.

PRESSURE mounted on the Government last night to roll out more rehabilitation facilities for heroin users as research showed the number of opiate takers outside Dublin had soared by 165% in the last five years.

TREATMENT programmes for heroin addicts are working, according to a detailed research project.

A leading academic today called for prostitution to be decriminalised to protect women forced to work in the sex industry.

THE State’s leading drug adviser said he fears gains made over the past 15 years will be lost if funding cuts were forced through.

PROSTITUTES are being subjected to shocking levels of “aggression, violence and brutality” on the street, according a new report.

ALL over-the-counter pain medications containing the “Hillbilly heroin” drug codeine should be made prescription-only to block the continuing rise in addictions to the narcotic, a leading expert has said.

THE richest and the poorest are the heaviest users of sedatives, tranquillisers and anti-depressants, according to a national survey.

Nine per cent of adults have taken anti-depressants and 15% have used sedatives or tranquillisers, according to a study carried out by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs.