One in five have tried illicit drugs, finds survey

SOME 20% of people across the country have taken illegal drugs in their lifetime, but only 3% are classified as regular users, the most comprehensive survey of narcotics use ever carried out has revealed.

The survey also reveals the numbers that have tried illegal drugs varies dramatically across the country.

In one Dublin health board area, nearly one-third of respondents told interviewers they had tried drugs, compared to just over one in 10 in the north-west.

The survey was commissioned jointly by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs and the North’s Drug and Alcohol Information and Research Unit. Hundreds of people were surveyed in each health board.

Minister of State Noel Ahern, who is charged with managing the National Drugs Strategy, launched the survey.

“The survey confirms the fact that the vast majority of people have never used illegal drugs,” Mr Ahern said. “However, the results also highlight the fact that drug use is not confined to our major cities. Drug use is an issue for communities, both urban and rural, through the country.”

Researcher Aileen O’Gorman said the survey was designed to discover the prevalence of drug use among the general population and not within communities where there is a particularly high use.

This is particularly true of heroin use, with regular users of the drug not registering in all but two of the health board areas.

A total of 8,442 people aged from 15-64, 4,925 here, 3,517 in the North, were surveyed by independent pollsters, who asked the interviewees whether they had taken drugs, firstly, ever, secondly, in the last year, and thirdly, in the last month.

The answers reveal that:

19% of people have tried illegal drugs in their lifetime, rising to 24.6% of those aged 15-34.

3% are currently taking illegal drugs, ranging from 5% in the Northern Area Health Board to just 0.5% in the North-Western.

Cannabis is the drug of choice, with 17.6% smoking it at some point, compared to heroin at 0.5%, cocaine at 3.1% and ecstasy at 3.1%.

3.9% of all adults are regular users of tranquillisers, sedatives or anti-depressants.

73.4% of people drink alcohol and 30% smoke.

“The key findings of this research show that cannabis is the most widely used illegal drug,” NACD vice chair Dr Mary Ellen McCann said.

“In almost all health board areas, cannabis use is higher among young adults.” Men take more drugs than women, and use is highest in the east, Dr McCann added.

The survey will, the authors hope, provide policy makers, researchers and service providers with an insight in to drug use in each of the health boards.

Trends can be identified. For example, the survey reveals a small but worrying number of people have tried crack cocaine, the most lethal and addictive of all the drugs on the market. Just 0.4% of those surveyed admitted taking the deadly narcotic, rising to 1% of those questioned in the East Coast Area Health Board.

The survey also reveals more people are regular users of sedatives and anti-depressants than cannabis. In the North West board area, 0.5% are illegal drug users, but 4.6% regularly take dispensed narcotics.