‘Drug use as normal for young people as drinking alcohol’, says recovering Cork addict

Drugs are as normalised for young people in Ireland as drinking, but their stronger effects mean more people are dying, a young Cork man in recovery has said.

In 2025, one in three people who sought treatment for alcohol reported using another drug, too, the Health Research Board’s latest figures show.

The proportion of cases reporting ‘polydrug’ use increased from almost 20% in 2017 to 32% in 2025.

Cocaine was the most common drug used alongside alcohol, followed by cannabis, benzodiazepines, and opioids. 

The young Cork man, Jack, a 22-year-old who has been in recovery for nearly four years, said: “Taking drugs is so normalised in society: Weed, coke. But it’s not just weed and coke anymore. Weed is hugely normalised and so dangerous in Ireland, because it’s not regulated, so the levels of THC are getting higher and higher, which leads to more psychosis.

Out of control

“A bad one, at the moment, is ketamine. It’s so normal for people to take it in nightclubs or pubs and it makes you totally out of control; you have no control over your body.

“It’s as normal to take a line of coke, a line of ketamine, go down the fields with your friends and smoke a joint, as it is to go into the pub and take a drink, for people my age and teenagers.”

The older alcoholics in recovery just drank and didn’t take other substances, because “there wasn’t drugs around that were easy to get or affordable like they are today”, Jack said.

Jack’s addiction began with drugs when he smoked a joint at 15. “I was addicted from the get-go, but they’re so linked. Alcohol is a drug in liquid form.

Mental health harm

“Drugs do more harm than alcohol in the sense of mental health, sending you in to psychosis quicker, but also owing drug dealers money, having to do things you don’t want to do to pay off drug debts.

“You can take more drugs for longer amounts of time without needing to stop, whereas with alcohol if you have too much you pass out. Coke you can go for weeks; actually weeks. Drugs having a worse affect does lead to people seeking help younger than if they were just drinking, but it also means that more people are dying.

“Drugs are getting stronger. It’s not regulated, so God only knows what we’re taking, and, yes, people are seeking help younger, but they’re also dying younger.”

Jack said that getting sober changed his life for the better, and he encouraged anyone in the same situation to seek help.

“My life today, without a drink or drug, is 10 times more fulfilling than my life with a drink or a drug. I can do all of the same things today. I go to raves, I go to nightclubs, partying holidays to Albufeira, and I don’t need a drink or a drug to do it.”

Anne Marie Carew, senior researcher at the HRB, said: “The use of other drugs alongside alcohol is a concerning trend.

“We know that mixing substances complicates treatment, can make recovery more difficult, and can also be dangerous to the individual,” Ms Carew said.

“Our report provides important evidence, which can be used to help tailor policy and service planning in line with new trends like this.”