A Community Perspective of Cocaine Use in Ireland: A Brief Exploratory Study

Abstract

The emphasis of this exploratory research was on documenting perceptions of the extent of cocaine use in an inner city community (of 4,000 households) in Ireland. The study was undertaken due to rising community concern of apparent increasing pervasion of cocaine availability, increased cocaine use as social activity and the destructive impact on both individual and community context. Interviews were conducted with a range of informants including drug-service providers, An Garda Síochána (Irish police), youth workers, drug counselors, family support workers, general medical practitioners, hospital personnel, night-club owners, publicans, parents and carers, taxi drivers, doormen, community workers, money advice and lending services, outreach workers, prison liaison officers, politicians and a small number of key informants considered to have experience of and insight into common and preferred drug-taking practices in the community. The research pointed to the increased visibility of cocaine in the community at many levels, and an increased likelihood of intranasal cocaine use among social poly drug users, in addition to the problematic patterns (injecting and smoking cocaine) presented by those attending the methadone clinic. The level of poly drug use noted in both the methadone treatment population and those using cocaine recreationally represents a significant challenge for drug education, prevention, and treatment services in this Irish community. The perception of social and indeed problematic drug users that cocaine is a “safe” drug needs to be addressed, given the levels of risk behavior associated with injecting cocaine, with sharing of snorting and smoking instruments, and polydrug use of cocaine in combination with alcohol and other drugs.