Ireland tops drug table for use of ecstasy and speed

IRELAND has again topped the drug table in western Europe for consumption of ecstasy and amphetamine.

A report by the United Nations found that Ireland had for the second year running the highest level of ecstasy and amphetamine use among 23 western European countries.

However, the study is based on Irish data that is almost six years old.

While the vast majority of countries in western Europe have data from 1999, 2000 or 2001, the most recent Irish data is from 1998.

Taking this into account, the Global Illicit Drug Trends 2003 showed that:

2.6% of Irish people aged between 15 and 64 have taken amphetamine.

2.4% of Irish people have taken ecstasy.

1.3% of people have used cocaine.

9.4% of people have used cannabis.

0.4% have taken heroin.

Per capita, Ireland is ahead of Britain and Spain in the use of ecstasy and amphetamine, also known as speed.

It slipped to third for use of cannabis after being joint-highest with Britain in last year’s report.

New surveys conducted in Britain and Spain in 2001 have put them in first and second place respectively. The Netherlands, where cannabis is legally sold in coffee shops, is in ninth position.

A spokeswoman for the Minister of State with responsibility for the National Drug Strategy, Noel Ahern, said the Irish data used in the report did not come from a comprehensive national population survey and could not be compared to other countries.

He said such a survey had been commissioned and would be available in the coming months, providing a more accurate picture.

The Global Illicit Drug Trends report said that, following a steep decline in 2001, global opium and heroin production increased in 2002.

“This increase was due to the resumption of large-scale opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan,” it said. Opium production jumped from 1,600 metric tonnes in 2001 to 4,500 tonnes in 2002.

While cocaine production fell in 2002, the report said traffickers were finding new markets in Europe, reflected by large increases in seizures in Ireland.

It said western Europe accounted for 17% of global cocaine seizures in 2001, compared to 8% in 1998.

The report found that seizures of cannabis herb increased by 40% in the same time period, again a phenomenon reflected in Ireland.

Researchers noted that ecstasy use had grown again in western Europe.

The report is published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and can be viewed at their website www.unodc.org.