A Health Research Board report shows that crack cocaine accounted for 15.8% of all cases treated where cocaine was cited as a main problem in 2020, an increase on 2019's figures.
The report also details that after alcohol, the main problem drugs are opioids such as heroin and codeine, as well as cocaine, cannabis and benzodiazepines.
The number of people seeking treatment for cocaine addiction in Cork has nearly trebled in the last five years.
The Head of Counselling at Tabor Fellowship addiction treatment centre in Cork, Con Cremin, told RedFM News, that people with active addictions will always eventually go for the more extreme high:
"Crack cocaine would have been an infrequent, or rare enough, substance to come across. Whereas now, it seems to be becoming more normalised. People progress in their addiction, their tolerance increases. They're looking for something that's more effective so they will always go to the more extreme of what they're using, and crack cocaine is very much part of that, and it has its own additional risks and complications."
