Research: Current Research - Prevalence

(i) Prevalence of Drugs Use Index

"Gathering information, developing our knowledge and building our understanding of why some people develop drug problems and not others is essential. We need to know what to do, when to do it and how, if we are to make any difference to the lives of people affected by problem drug use."

National Advisory Committee on Drugs, 2001

Before we can deal effectively with drug misuse it is imperative that we have greater understanding of the prevalence of drug use.

For further information click on the links below:

Drug Use Among Irish Youth

Drug Problems

Prevalence ( Inc. 2002/ 2003 Drug Prevalence Survey)

Drug Use Among Irish Youth

Recent research provides a more sophisticated understanding of drug use and prevalence. Research is revealing that:

• Drug taking has a perceived value and function among young people who use drugs
• Young people are experiencing routine and increasingly high exposure to drugs, in most cases from friends of friends
• Use of illicit drugs does not escalate to problem proportions in the perception of most young drug triers/ users
• Drug use patterns tend to lack predictability and are strongly influenced by a range of social and cultural factors
• Drug pathways are unpredictable and can move dynamically between increased or decreased drug intake levels across time
• Drug choices are not static, but subject to ongoing revision and modification
• Young drug users are a highly heterogeneous group, with highly differentiated levels and patterns of drug involvement
  

In keeping with the above findings, it is recommended that those who work with young people move from abstinence only approaches to include harm reduction models.

Drug Problems

"The Drug Problem" is being re-mapped as a collection of local drug problems that differ across space and time and often require different policy responses and strategies. A drug problem occurs when a personís use of drugs has serious consequences for themselves, their family or their community. Personal consequences would include: health, psychological state, social relationships, capacity to work, involvement with serious crime, ability to partake in society and capacity to avoid premature death. Consequences for immediate families and communities would include extraordinary and widespread social and emotional traumas.

However it should be stressed that in many cases drug use will not always result in drug problems. In society, drugs and drug use are frequently sensationalised and consequently simplified. This often leads to simplistic one-dimensional strategies and responses to the drugs issue focusing on the dangers of drugs and denying individuals a sense of agency and autonomy in their own drug use.

"The main conclusion is that there is no single ëdrug problemí with one dramatic solution. Rather, what is called the ëdrug problemí is comprised of varying degrees of involvement with a variety of substances, arising from several influences, many of which are unrelated to each other. For these reasons, the main recommendation is that there is a need to target and prevent use of the most dangerous substancesî - National Advisory Committee on Drugs 2001

Prevalence

Findings from the first drug prevalnce survey of households from both Ireland and Northern Ireland. The survey sampled a representative number of people aged between 15 and 64.

Recent Prevalence (%) for those living on the island of Ireland 2002/ 2003

Drugs		All Adults 15- 64	Males	Females	Young Adults 15- 34		15- 24	25- 34	35- 44	45- 54	55- 64
Any Illegal Drug		3.1	4.6	1.6	5.4		7.5	3.3	1.8	0.6	0.4
Cannabis		2.7	3.9	1.4	4.7		6.3	3.0	1.8	0.6	0.3
Heroin		*	*	*	0.1		0.2	-	-	-	-
Methadone		0.1	0.1	0.2	0.2		0.1	0.2	0.1	*	-
Cocaine		0.3	0.5	-	0.5		0.7	0.4	0.1	-	-
Crack		-	-	-	-		-	-	-	-	-
Amphetamines		0.2	0.3	0.1	0.3		0.6	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
Ecstasy		0.4	0.7	0.1	0.8		1.1	0.4	*	-	-
LSD		*	*	*	*		-	0.1	-	-	-
Magic Mushrooms		*	0.1	-	0.1		0.1	-	*	-	0.1
Solvents		*	0.1	*	0.1		0.1	-	-	-	0.1
Poppers		0.1	0.1	0.1	0.2		0.4	*	-	-	-
Sedatives,
Tranquillisers,
Anti-depressants		5.6	4.1	7.2	3.0		2.0	4.0	5.1	8.9	11.1
1. For the purpose of this study, illegal drug use ferers to the use of amphetamines, cannabis, cocaine powder, crack, ecstasy, magic mushrooms heroin, LSD, poppers and solvents.
2. Poppers i.e. amyl or butyl nitrite.
Note: All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal place. Note: - Indicates no respondents in this category * Indicates less than half of 0.1 percent.

Lifetime Prevalence (%) for those living on the island of Ireland 2002/ 2003

Drugs		All Adults 15- 64	Males	Females	Young Adults 15- 34		15- 24	25- 34	35- 44	45- 54	55- 64
Any Illegal Drug		19.4	25.2	13.6	27.7		26.2	29.2	18.3	10.6	4.6
Cannabis		17.3	22.7	11.9	24.5		23.5	25.6	17.1	9.7	3.4
Heroin		0.4	0.6	0.2	0.6		0.4	0.8	0.4	0.2
Methadone		0.3	0.3	0.3	0.6		0.3	0.9	0.3
Cocaine		2.7	4	1.4	4.3		4.6	3.9	2.5	0.8	0.2
Crack		0.3	0.5	0.1	0.5		0.5	0.4	0.3	0.1	0.1
Amphetamines		3.3	4.6	1.9	5.5		5	6	2.1	0.9	0.6
Ecstasy		4.4	5.9	2.9	8.3		8.5	8.1	2	0.3	0.2
LSD		3.5	5.3	1.6	5.5		4.5	6.5	2.8	1.4	0.4
Magic Mushrooms		4.1	6	2.2	6.3		5.6	6.9	4.8	0.7	0.3
Solvents		2.1	2.8	1.4	3.9		3.9	4	0.9	0.1	0.4
Poppers		3.5	4.8	2.1	6.4		6.4	6.4	1.7	0.6	0.1
Sedatives,
Tranquillisers,
Anti-depressants		15.1	11.1	19.1	10.5		7.7	13.3	16.2	18.6	24.2
1. For the purpose of this study, illegal drug use ferers to the use of amphetamines, cannabis, cocaine powder, crack, ecstasy, magic mushrooms heroin, LSD, poppers and solvents.
2. Poppers i.e. amyl or butyl nitrite.
Note: All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal place .

Key Findings from this research:

* Almost one in five (19%) of respondents on the island of Ireland reported ever taking an illegal drug. This proportion was similar in Northern Ireland at 20%.

* Cannabis was the most commonly used illegal drug. Lifetime prevalence rates for cannabis were 18% in Ireland and 17% in Northern Ireland.

* Lifetime prevalence rates for all other illegal drugs were less than 5% each on the island of Ireland. Aside for cannabis, the most common drugs ever used were ecstasy an magic mushrooms (each 4%); amphetamines,cocaine, LSD and poppers (each 3%); solvents (2%); heroin (4%); and crack (3%).

The European School Survey Project on Alcohol and other Drugs (ESPAD) conducted in1999 and published in 2001 looked at the prevalence of both licit and illicit drug use among 16 year olds in school settings. While the results of the survey of 2,277 Irish students showed that we have a higher rate of use than the European average, the figures indicate a drop in the levels of those who have ever tried Cannabis from the 1995 figure of 37% to 32% in 1999.

The National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) carried out a survey in 1998 which indicated that 53% of young people in Ireland had tried an illegal drug.

In 2002 the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) which is the representative body for third level students conducted an all-Ireland survey. They discovered that:

• 51% of third level students take illegal drugs

• 66% of students who have taken illegal drugs had their first such experience in secondary school
• Cannabis was the first illegal drug taken by 96% of respondents
• 58% of students surveyed want cannabis decriminalised based on its slim health risks and possible use for medicinal purposes
• 85% of those who take drugs were introduced to them by friends
• Cannabis is by far the most illicit substance among students with 89% of those who take drugs using it regularly.
• Ecstasy is next at 9% followed by cocaine at 2%.

In 1999 the National Health and Lifestyles Surveys examined the prevalence of alcohol and tobacco use in the population.
This study is separated into two:

SLÁN (Survey of Lifestyles, Attitudes and Nutrition) which represents adults ages 18 years and over while the

HBSC (Health Behaviour in School Aged Children), represents school-going children aged 9-17 years.
These reports indicate that almost half of school-aged children have had a cigarette; overall 21% of children were current smokers, with the majority in the 15-17 age bracket. Within the adult population the figures indicate that 32% of males and 31% of females are smokers.

Regarding alcohol, data from the report indicates that a higher percentage of males than females, across all ages, consume alcohol regularly.

In addition the findings show that 27% of males and 21% of females consume more than the recommended weekly amounts of alcohol consumption. The HBSC survey indicates that 32% of school respondents reported ever having a drink (lifetime use) with 29% overall reporting to have had a drink within the past month (current use).

Why not check our poll to see what Ireland's drug habits are.