Cocaine ‘a huge issue’ in Cork as number of users seeking support increase

Cocaine use in Cork has been described as a “huge issue”, with more than 40% of calls received by Coolmine South-West within the first six months of this year have been in relation to cocaine addiction.

That is according to its regional services manager, Stephen Cashman, who said that approximately 41% of calls to the service so far this year have been in relation to problematic cocaine use.

Of the 41% of calls that involved cocaine use in some form, 28% related to cases where cocaine was the primary substance of concern.

Significant increase

This marks a significant increase on the 17% of calls made to the service, across the six Cork and Kerry-based hubs, relating to cocaine being the primary substance of concern in 2024.

Between January and July of this year, Coolmine South-West, which provides local support for those impacted by problematic substance use, responded to 762 cases, of which 425 related to poly-drug-use.

Of those 425 calls, 320 of them reported an issue with cocaine in addition to another substance.

Speaking to The Echo,Mr Cashman said that while alcohol remains the primary legal substance for referrals to the service, at approximately 50% of calls, cocaine has become the highest primary illegal substance, representing a continuous increase in calls relating to drug use across the region.

“There has been a definite increase in people presenting for services around cocaine use,” he said.

“Alcohol will generally make up the primary referral source for all clients coming to us, generally about half. But between January and now, 41% — which is quite high — has been due to cocaine,” said Mr Cashman.

Referrals

“That’s over a third of all referrals, so that’s a lot of people using cocaine that feel the need to seek support.

“While alcohol is the biggest substance that will come to our doors, cocaine is not far behind it.

“In some parts of the country, certainly in the eastern region near Dublin, there’s a lot of the calls where the primary referral source is cocaine.

“We’re not quite at that level yet here in Cork, but there’s quite a high prevalence.”

Mr Cashman’s comments come following the publication of Dublin’s Rutland Centre’s 2024 annual report, which highlighted a dramatic rise in cocaine use and a surge in complex, multi-addiction cases nationwide.

The report stated that, according to the Health Research Board’s latest drug treatment figures, cocaine is now the most common problem drug among new treatment cases. It now accounts for more than 30% of all new presentations, which has overtaken cannabis for the first time.

Addiction

Further to this, Mr Cashman highlighted an increase in the number of women presenting to the Cork service seeking assistance with cocaine addiction.

“This year, primarily in the first quarter, we had a steady increase in female participation in our services,” said Mr Cashman.

“That’s been rising quarter-on-quarter over the past couple of years, so there’s a lot more females presenting looking for support.

“That being said, there’s not one cohort of people who are more likely to be impacted by cocaine.

“It’s a problem that’s affecting the general population — whether you’re rural or urban — there’s a lot more access to cocaine now.

“It’s a huge issue that needs to be addressed, without a shadow of a doubt.

“To combat this, there’s a new national drugs strategy coming out later this year. Hopefully, we’ll see some movement on that.

“There’s a need to move towards a health-led approach, rather than a justice-led approach, which will really help.”