Demand for addiction treatment to soar

DEMAND for drug and alcohol addiction treatment is expected to soar due to the economic downturn, the HSE warned after it emerged that five people were referred every day in the first nine months of last year.

Latest figures from the Cork-based Arbour House treatment centre have revealed that during the first three quarters of 2008 a total of 1,300 people were referred to the service for a string of addiction issues, with almost one in every three referrals involving patients under the age of 23.

David Lane, co-ordinator for drug and alcohol services in the HSE south, said while there had been no significant rise in referral numbers in the six months since the last official figures — due to the ongoing economic crisis — drug alcohol and addiction services nationwide were preparing for a significant increase in demand over the next two years.

He was speaking at the opening of the €2 million redevelopment of the Arbour House facility at St Finbarr’s Hospital in Cork yesterday.

“There hasn’t been a large increase in the last quarter of last year or the start of this year, but I would expect that probably in the next year or two more issues relating to debt and family difficulties will hit out services,” he said.

According to the statistics from Arbour House, which has been providing an addiction treatment service for the Cork and Kerry region since the mid-1980s, of the 1,300 referrals made in the first nine months of last year almost a third (416) were female, representing a small increase on previous figures, with a similar figure (429) referrals involving individuals aged 23 or younger.

In line with previous trends, alcohol (754 referrals) and the use of illegal drugs such as cocaine and heroin (481 referrals) remain the most common reasons for referral from family members, gardaí, GPs or self-referral.

However, 39 separate referrals relating to the abuse of prescribed medications were also recorded during the period.

Gretta Crowley, local health manager with the HSE South, said the multi-million euro redeveloped service would continue to provide vital consultation, assessment and treatment to those struggling to cope with addiction concerns across the region.