1.1 Purpose
This report provides an overview of recent drug market trends and drug use behaviour in Ireland in order to help inform policy developments regarding drug monitoring and early warning structures as the Department of Health prepares the 2026–2029 national drug strategy.
In response to volatile and evolving drug markets, future strategies should embed a foresight approach and create a dedicated process for long-term strategic planning in order to build resilience. With drug use now positioned as a wider societal issue occurring across all strands of Irish society,1 the integration of drug and public health strategies is needed in order to support a population health approach.
Policies need to be agile so that countries can adapt to evolving drug markets and healthcare challenges. They should incorporate early warning systems and allocate the resources needed to develop the infrastructure to monitor drug markets, detect threats, and respond to emerging situations.
This report describes the characteristics of the Irish drug use landscape, which has rapidly evolved since the launch of the previous national drug strategy, Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery – A health-led response to drug and alcohol use in Ireland 2017-2025.
This report highlights important features of a changing drug environment as well as the current and emerging public health challenges. It also outlines how the application of science-based knowledge in this area can better inform rapid public health responses to emerging threats and contribute to a reduction in drug-related emergencies, cluster intoxications, and drug-related fatalities.
1.2 Background
Significant shifts have occurred in the Irish drug landscape since the mid-2010s in terms of who is using drugs, how many people use drugs, and what types of drugs are available. With more diverse communities now using drugs, it becomes harder to determine who is ‘at risk’. As a consequence, those not captured by traditional service infrastructure become hard-to-reach populations for healthcare providers, even though those using substances are socially integrated and captured through other mainstream healthcare settings. Since the early 2000s, we have seen significant and rapid progressions, with technological advances transforming all aspects of how we live our lives, communicate, and buy goods and services. These technological advances are also a significant factor in how drug cultures and trends are evolving from the cultural margins to the mainstream, with technology not only leading to increased access but also shaping the views and beliefs of young people.
The emergence of substance use in youth cultures is not a new phenomenon. However, the major shift of cultures from the niche or subcultural towards more mainstream activity creates new prevention and healthcare challenges. Challenges still remain for vulnerable and socially excluded groups in our society, which remain most at risk of experiencing drug-related harms. However, we need to expand our definition of who is ‘at risk’ and recognise that many more people are vulnerable to drug market changes and the dangers posed by new psychoactive substances (NPS), including emergencies or mass intoxications. Policy-makers and healthcare providers need to continue to manage existing issues while preparing for novel public health challenges associated with new profiles of drug users and the evolution of drug markets that now could impact on any strand of Irish society.
1.3 Focus of this report
We will review the current drug landscape in order to inform future policy developments. This report will examine new and emerging trends that developed in Ireland through the last policy cycle (2017–2025). It will review a number of key trends and current responses in detail, and explain how Ireland can better prepare for future public health challenges. It will present the available data on a number of new trends, current responses, and how Ireland can better prepare for future public health challenges within the next policy cycle.
