Cocaine use on rise; Cork treatment centre under pressure

AN addiction treatment centre in Cork is hearing from an increasing number of young people with cocaine addiction.

Cuan Mhuire, which runs a treatment centre in Farnanes and a stepdown facility on the Western Road, has said that more younger people are seeking help for addiction, particularly for cocaine use.

Addiction has changed over the past few decades, from a typically older demographic seeking help for alcoholism, the chairperson of the board of Cuan Mhuire, Paul O’Donoghue, has said.

“Now, you can have very young people coming in, a lot of them under the age of 30, and alcohol and cocaine would be the two main difficulties that are there.”

Gamblers are also increasingly seeking treatment.

There is more pressure on Cuan Mhuire, as a result. “If Cuan Mhuire wasn’t there in the morning and you had 500 people looking for services any given night, like Cuan Mhuire provides, I think the HSE would find that very challenging. Cuan Mhuire provides a vital service in our society,” Mr O’Donoghue said.

The organisation operates five centres across the country, including the Cork location.

Mr O’Donoghue is concerned about the lack of funding that the organisation receives and fears they may be forced to close some of their services. This would impact people who are seeking treatment and would increase demand on the HSE.

“There is a waiting list in each and every centre, for people who have the courage to recognise that they need treatment and want to get treatment, and it is very difficult for our people to say, ‘Sorry, you will have to wait’.”

The facility receives just €4 per bed per night from the Government, Mr O’Donoghue said.

“We’re trying to address those three addictions as best we can, but with the level of funding that we have, we’re somewhat constrained in our ability to expand our services.”