Treatment for cocaine abuse up 336% since 2017
According to Health Research Board (HRB) research, 15,422 cases were treated for problem drug use in Ireland during 2025.
Cocaine remains Ireland’s most common drug treated (excluding alcohol), accounting for 42% of all drug-treatment cases (6,535 cases).
This is a 24% increase on 2024 (5,289 cases) and the highest number recorded to date.
In 2025, treatment demand for powder cocaine increased by 21% (834 cases), and for crack cocaine it increased by 31% (412 cases).
Cocaine also remains the main problem drug for over half of cases who are new to treatment (51%) and accounted for more than one in three previously treated cases in 2025 (3,421 cases), the research shows.
Treatment demand for new psychoactive substances (NPS) rose 50% in 2025, representing an increase from 170 cases in 2024 to 256.
NPS treatment cases have also seen an almost six-fold increase since 2020 (43 cases).
Dominance
Commenting, chief executive Dr Gráinne Gorman, said: “While this new report from the Health Research Board is further indication of the continued dominance of cocaine use in Irish society, it also represents increased investment in publicly funded drug treatment services, meaning they are available to more people that are struggling with problem drug use.
“Furthermore, our report shows the emergence of some new trends, with rising treatment rates for new psychoactive substances and ketamine.”
Opioids (mainly heroin) were the second most commonly reported main problem drug people sought treatment for.
The third most common was cannabis, similar to previous years.
Cocaine trends
Since 2017 there has been a 336% increase in cases receiving treatment for cocaine as their main problem drug.
Over this period, treatment demand for powder cocaine increased by 282%, while treatment demand for crack cocaine increased by 906%.
The number of females seeking treatment for cocaine has increased almost seven-fold from 284 cases in 2017 to 1,912 cases in 2025.
The number of cases reporting an NPS as a main problem drug in 2025 was the largest year-on-year increase since 2017.
Synthetic cannabinoid-type NPS drugs, including Hexahydrocannabinol (HHC), were reported most.
Ketamine, nitrous oxide and vaping
Treatment demand for ketamine also continued to increase in 2025, with 334 cases of problem use reported. This represents a twelve-fold increase in ketamine cases recorded since 2017 (27 cases).
And 130 of the 2025 cases identified ketamine as their main problem drug, which is more than double the number that did in 2024 (57 cases).
A small number of cases started treatment in 2025 for problem use of nitrous oxide, with over half of these cases aged 17 or under.
In addition, the number of cases reporting vaping as a route of administration increased on 2024, most commonly in relation to the use of synthetic cannabinoids.
Polydrug use remains common, with almost two-thirds of cases reporting the use of more than one substance.
Cannabis, cocaine, alcohol, and benzodiazepines were the most frequently reported additional drugs.