There are now an estimated 14,450 heroin-users in the Republic, of whom 12,456 are in the Dublin area, according to the first State-wide study on the misuse of opiates.
The research shows that the number of users in Dublin has dropped by 1,017 since 1996, from 13,461 to 12,444. However, usage increased in Dublin by 188 people between 2000 and 2001, while 301 fewer individuals outside the capital were using heroin or other opiates in the same period.
Outside Dublin, 2,225 people were using opiates in 2001, compared to 2,526 the previous year. The vast majority - more than 90 per cent - use heroin, while the remaining users take opiates like morphine or codeine.
The study was directed for the National Advisory Committee on Drugs (NACD) by bio-statistician Dr Alan Kelly of Trinity College. It found overall that there are 5.6 heroin-users in the State per 1,000 of the population, 16 per 1,000 in Dublin, and that usage "thins out dramatically" outside the capital, at 0.9 per 1,000.
He pointed out that by far the largest group of users - 46 per cent - were in the 25-34 age group, while a further 37 per cent were aged 18-24 and 17 per cent aged 35-64.
Similar studies in other EU states show Ireland's usage is "neither the worst nor the best". The Minister of State for Community Affairs, Mr Noel Ahern, said the overall trend for Dublin was "encouraging", as was the drop in the number of younger people using heroin. But there were more than 2,000 heroin-users outside the capital so "we cannot afford any degree of complacency in tackling the problem".
Mr Tony Geoghegan of the Merchant's Quay Project, the largest voluntary drug treatment centre in the State, gave a guarded welcome to the figures. "On the one hand the figures are a positive indication that the national drugs strategy is working, which is important in light of the uncertainty for funding. It is a good rationale for continued funding," he said.
He added, however, that the Merchant Quay project had treated almost 11,000 individuals between 1997 and 2002. "It seems we have seen almost all the Dublin users, which I don't think is the case." But he said it was "fantastic" to finally get "prevalence estimates" for usage, because up to now they were working in "guestimates".
The chairman of the NACD, Dr Des Corrigan, said that as the drug population aged, fewer young people were using opiates, and this would have to be analysed further. The statistics did not indicate whether they were using other drugs instead but the study filled in a "major part of the jigsaw". The number in treatment had almost doubled since 1996, from 3,200 to more than 6,000. Mr Ahern said it showed the positive change in attitude towards treatment.
