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Welcome
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Launch of the ESHEILD project at UCC
by Seán Millar
The ESHEILD project was launched in University College Cork (UCC) on 29 February 2025 at an event
attended by harm reduction experts, policy-makers, and student representatives. With further higher
education institutions (HEIs) expected to adopt the initiative, ESHEILD marks the beginning of a
coordinated national effort to reduce drug-related harms and risks among students across Ireland.



The ESHEILD project, which is based in UCC and is funded by the Department of Health, is a
multi-strand initiative that aims to support HEIs in tackling student drug use by providing students
with the MyUSE app and guiding HEIs to implement the Framework for Response to the Use of Illicit
Substances within Higher Education.





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Policy and legislation
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New national drugs strategy
by Lucy Dillon
The Department of Health has begun the process of developing the successor to the national drugs
strategy Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery: A health-led response to drug and alcohol use in
Ireland 2017-2025.1 The strands of work informing this process include:

The findings and recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use and the views of the
Oireachtas Joint Committee on Drugs Use2,3•
An independent evaluation of Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery and its action plans
Consultations with stakeholders on key themes relating to the new strategy
The commitments made in the 2025 Programme for Government4
Developments in the European Union’s (EU’s) Drugs Strategy and Action Plan (which also expire in
2025).5
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Guidance on human rights and drugs policy
by Lucy Dillon
The Pompidou Group (Council of Europe International Cooperation Group on Drugs and Addictions) is
the Council of Europe’s drug policy cooperation platform. In March 2025 it published a new report
titled Bringing human rights to the heart of drug and addiction policies: Guidance for aligning drug
and addiction policies with human rights.1 The report provides a succinct but comprehensive overview
of the issues related to human rights to be considered by all stakeholders involved in the drug
policy-making process.

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Recent research
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Early and risky adolescent alcohol use independently predict alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and other
drug use in early adulthood in Ireland
by Anne Doyle
Background


In 2023, the Health Research Board (HRB) partnered with Trinity College Dublin to examine the
alcohol- and drug-related data collected in the nationally representative, longitudinal Growing Up
in Ireland (GUI) study. A series of publications have ensued as a result of this collaboration.1-4
The most recent of these examined the association between age of alcohol initiation and hazardous
alcohol use during adolescence with alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and other drug use during early
adulthood.5

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Adverse childhood experiences and drug use among young adults in Ireland
by Seán Millar
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) describe different types of stressful or traumatic experiences
during childhood, and exposure to extreme stress during critical periods of early life may increase
the likelihood of exposure to a range of adverse factors.1 Importantly, studies have demonstrated
positive associations between ACEs and substance use behaviours in young adults.2 However, many of
these are based on cross-sectional data, which cannot provide evidence on the hypothesised direction
of association between ACEs and substance use. In addition, the pathway between ACEs and substance
misuse among emerging adults is not fully understood and few studies have investigated potential
mediating factors.

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Factors associated with cocaine use among young adults in Ireland
by Seán Millar
The Republic of Ireland ranks fourth globally for past-year cocaine use, with 2.4% of the general
adult population reporting such use in 2019.1 It ranks second in Europe for lifetime cocaine use
among 15–24-year-olds, with such use estimated at 6.8% in 2021.2 National drug treatment
surveillance data revealed a 259% increase in cases where cocaine was the main problem drug between
2016 and 2022; in 2022, cocaine surpassed opioids as the leading problem drug, accounting for 34% of
all drug treatment cases.3 In addition, among individuals aged 15–24 years, cocaine-related hospital
discharges rose by 83% between 2015 and 2019, while cocaine-related deaths increased by 41% between
2007 and 2017.2 However, despite growing concerns about trends in cocaine use in Ireland, there is a
lack of longitudinal studies that prospectively examine factors associated with cocaine initiation
and use in general youth populations.

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New report on problem drug use in Cork city published
by Seán Millar
Problem drug use (PDU) is defined as recurrent drug use that is causing harm to an individual, or is
placing them at a high probability or risk of suffering harm.1 Substances associated with PDU
include opioids, cocaine (powder and crack), amphetamines, benzodiazepines, Z-drugs, and
gabapentinoids. PDU can lead to many harms for populations and individuals. Such harms include
increased criminal activity, drug-related litter, increased risk of infectious diseases passed on
from shared syringes and needles, substance use disorders, overdoses, and death.

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Prevalence/current situation
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Death by suicide and gambling
by Lucy Dillon
A paper titled ‘A qualitative analysis of people who died by suicide and had gambling documented in
their coronial file’,1 which explores the relationship between death by suicide and gambling in
Ireland, was published in April 2025. It is the first study to explore this topic using coronial
records in Ireland.


Context


Since the mid-1990s, the availability of gambling and gambling products (including online products)
has increased dramatically. In turn, rates of gambling and problematic gambling have also increased.
In Ireland, the estimate of adults with problematic gambling behaviours is 3.3%, with a further 7.1%
having ‘multiple problematic gambling experiences’ (p. 2).2

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Overprescribing of benzodiazepines, Z-drugs and gabapentinoids in Ireland
by Ciara H Guiney
The Examining the overprescribing of Benzodiazepines, z-drugs and Gabapentinoids in Ireland report
was published by the Medical Council on 25 February 2025.1 The aim of the report was to outline key
issues along with recommendations identified by the Overprescribing Working Group.


Working Group


The Overprescribing Working Group (‘the Working Group’) was established in 2019 by then President of
the Medical Council, Dr Rita Doyle. Initially, the remit was to review concerns about
overprescribing benzodiazepines and associated complaints received by the Medical Council. Z-drugs
and gabapentinoids were added later. The Working Group consisted of representatives from a range of
stakeholders, including the Health Service Executive (HSE); Department of Health; Pharmaceutical
Society of Ireland (PSI); Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP); Nursing and Midwifery Board
of Ireland (NMBI); Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA); Irish College of Psychiatry; and
Faculty of Pain Medicine, College of Anesthesiologists of Ireland.1

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Review of Prevention Systems in Ireland
by Lucy Dillon
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has developed a tool to assess a national
prevention system based on the International standards on drug use prevention.1 Following a pilot of
the tool (Review of Prevention Systems (RePS)) in Norway, the tool is now being applied to the Irish
context. It will explore the range of prevention interventions in Ireland and the system
underpinning them in relation to the international standards for effective practices in prevention.

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Commercial determinants of health: the case of the alcohol industry
by Anne Doyle
Background


In February 2025, in the shadow of the Guinness brewery (part of Diageo), often synonymous with
Dublin, a workshop event, ‘The other side of the coin’, was held in Rialto’s F2 Centre. The
workshop, organised by the Canal Communities Local Drug and Alcohol Task Force, Irish Community
Action on Alcohol Network (ICAAN), and the Health Service Executive (HSE), aimed to explore the
challenges and strategies for building understanding of alcohol harm in communities where the
alcohol industry has created a narrative of embodying virtue in the Dublin 8 area.

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Trends in alcohol and drug admissions to psychiatric facilities
by Seán Millar
The National Psychiatric Inpatient Reporting System (NPIRS) annual report on the activities of Irish
psychiatric units and hospitals 2023, published by the Health Research Board (HRB) Mental Health
Information Systems Unit,1 shows that the rate of new admissions to inpatient care for alcohol
disorders has remained stable.

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Prison visiting committees annual reports, 2022
by Seán Millar
A visiting committee is appointed to each Irish prison under the Prisons (Visiting Committees) Act,
1925 and the Prisons (Visiting Committees) Order, 1925. Members of the 12 visiting committees are
appointed by the Minister for Justice for a term not exceeding 3 years. The function of prison
visiting committees is to visit, at frequent intervals, the prison to which they are appointed and
to hear any complaints that may be made to them by any prisoner. The committees report to the
Minister for Justice regarding any abuses observed or found, and any repairs which they think are
urgently needed. Prison visiting committee members have free access, either collectively or
individually, to every part of the prison to which their committee is appointed. Information from
prison visiting committee reports relating to drug use in prisons for 2022 is summarised below.1

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Ana Liffey Drug Project annual report, 2023
by Seán Millar
The Ana Liffey Drug Project (ALDP) is a low-threshold, harm reduction project working with people
who are actively using drugs and experiencing associated problems. ALDP has been offering harm
reduction services to people in the north inner city area of Dublin since 1982, from premises at
Middle Abbey Street. ALDP offers a wide variety of low-threshold, harm reduction services that
provide pathways for drug users out of their current circumstances, including addiction and
homelessness.

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Self-harm in Irish prisons, 2020 and 2021
by Seán Millar
The Self-Harm Assessment and Data Analysis (SADA) Project was set up in Ireland in 2016 to provide
robust information relating to the incidence and profile of self-harm within prison settings, as
well as individual-specific and context-specific risk factors relating to self-harm. In addition, it
examines patterns of repeat self-harm (both non-fatal and fatal). The Health Service Executive’s
National Office for Suicide Prevention and the National Suicide Research Foundation assist the Irish
Prison Service with data management, data analysis, and reporting. This article highlights findings
from a report presenting data in the analysis of all episodes of self-harm across the Irish prison
estate during the years 2020 and 2021.1

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Responses
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Communities That Care in Ireland
by Lucy Dillon
Communities That Care (CTC) is a place-based initiative that develops a prevention operating system
in a community in order to prevent drug use and other harmful behaviours.1 It provides a method for
communities to assess the needs of their young people, coordinate stakeholders to develop a
response, select and implement suitable evidence-based programmes to meet these needs, and evaluate
the outcomes achieved. CTC is being implemented in Ireland for the first time in 2025. It is being
led by the South Western Regional Drug & Alcohol Task Force’s Substance Use Regional Forum (SURF),
with support from the Department of Health, the Department of Justice, and Kildare County Council.



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Updates
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Recent publications
Prevalence and current situation


The internalization of stigma and the shaping of the grief experience for peers bereaved by a
drug-related death
O’Callaghan D and Lambert S (2024) Omega (Westport), early online. Available from:
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The impact of the introduction of tobacco product plain packaging on consumer responses in Ireland:
a real-world policy evaluation stratified by socioeconomic groups
Sheridan A, Conway R, Murphy E, et al. (2024) Eur J Public Health, 34(5): 970–978. Available from:
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