Heroin the most common drug taken for drug users treated in 2017

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

Latest figures from the Health Research Board, show cannabis remains the most common drug among cases entering treatment for the first time.

Four out of every 10 new cases were treated for problem cannabis use, many at a young age according to the HRB.

There was an almost 40% increase in the number of people treated for problem cocaine use between 2016 and 2017.

Senior researcher at the HRB, Dr Suzi Lyons, outlines the key findings:

Dr Lyons said: "Today we've released the latest figures on problem drug use from the Health Research Board and this shows that there were almost 9,000 cases treated in 2017.

"Opiates, mainly heroin, were the most common drug treated and this is followed by cannabis, cocaine and benzodiazepines."