Cocaine-linked fatalities surge, HRB reports
A total of 343 drug-poisoning deaths were recorded in 2022, representing an 8% decrease compared with 2021, when 373 deaths were reported.
The Health Research Board’s (HRB) study warns that the figures reflect an ongoing public-health crisis, with cocaine-related deaths continuing to rise sharply.
Drug poisoning deaths in Ireland in 2022 draws on information from the National Drug-Related Deaths Index (NDRDI), which compiles data from coronial files, mortality registers, treatment records, and hospital data.
Cocaine deaths rise sharply
Despite the overall fall in deaths, the report shows a marked rise in the role of cocaine over the past decade.
Cocaine was the second most common drug implicated in poisoning deaths in 2022 and was involved in one in three deaths that year.
Over the ten-year period from 2013 to 2022, deaths involving cocaine increased by 259% – the largest increase recorded for any drug group.
In 2022, eight in ten cocaine-related deaths also involved other substances – most commonly heroin, methadone, and other prescription drugs.
In 2022, the median age at death from poisoning was 45 for men and 46 for women, with most deaths occurring among people in their 30s and 40s.
Men continued to account for the majority of drug-poisoning deaths.
The report also highlights the link between drug use and mental health. Two in five people who died had a history of mental-health issues, while almost one in two were alone at the time the poisoning occurred.
Nearly one in ten were injecting drugs when they died.
At least two in five were not in employment, although most were living in stable accommodation. Almost half lived in Dublin, either in the city or county, and more than one in ten were experiencing homelessness at the time of death.
Among men, cocaine was the most frequently involved drug, appearing in two in five male deaths in 2022. It was followed by methadone, alprazolam, and diazepam. Most heroin-related deaths – 82% – occurred among men.
For women, methadone was the most commonly implicated drug, involved in three in ten female deaths. This was followed by diazepam and pregabalin. The report found that gabapentinoids and antiepileptic drugs, including pregabalin, were involved in a greater proportion of deaths among women, as were antidepressants.
Opioids and prescription drugs dominate
Although cocaine and heroin were the main illicit drugs implicated, the HRB found that most drug-poisoning deaths involved prescribable medications.
Almost eight in ten deaths involved more than one drug, highlighting the dangers of combining substances.
Opioids were implicated in two in three deaths in 2022.
Methadone was the most common opioid involved, and most methadone-related deaths were the result of polysubstance poisoning.
Heroin-related deaths also declined over the longer term, falling 11% between 2013 and 2022, with a particularly sharp 36% decrease between 2020 and 2022.
Alcohol a significant factor
Alcohol continued to play a role in drug-poisoning deaths. In 2022, one in five deaths involved alcohol in combination with other drugs.
However, alcohol’s involvement in polysubstance poisoning declined by 26% between 2020 and 2022, mirroring broader reductions seen during the pandemic period.