The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, is to meet the Garda Commissioner shortly following rising concerns about the drugs problem outside the Dublin area.
Official studies suggest the use of illegal drugs outside the capital has more than trebled between 1998 and 2002.
It is understood the matter arose at Cabinet in the last fortnight. The Minister will discuss strategies for combating drugs in areas such as the midlands, Limerick, Galway and Cork, with Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy.
A spokeswoman for the Minister confirmed that a meeting will take place before Christmas to discuss the Garda's strategy for dealing with the issue.
The number of heroin users seeking treatment outside the capital has increased more than four-fold, while use of cannabis has trebled, according to the Health Research Board. Cocaine use has also increased dramatically.
The meeting comes following the Estimates for 2005 which allocated an 18 per cent increase in funding for various drugs initiatives.
Much of this funding is aimed at developing new regional drugs task forces which, according to anti-drugs campaigners, have been starved of funding since they were recently established.
The Department of Justice says these regional task forces will map out the patterns and the extent of drug misuse in their areas, as well as identifying gaps in services.
Meanwhile, new figures show gardaí are not using the toughest detention provisions available to them under anti-drugs trafficking legislation, introduced following the death of journalist Veronica Guerin.
Under the Drug Trafficking Act (1996), a person suspected of having committed a drug trafficking offence may be detained for up to a maximum of seven days. Figures provided by the Department of Justice show that no persons were detained under the legislation for a period exceeding five days.
Almost 600 people were detained for up to six hours, 489 were detained for between six and 24 hours, 147 for between 24 and 48 hours and 12 for between 48 and 120 hours.
The legislation is automatically reviewed every two years. A resolution was passed in the Dáil last week providing for the continued operation of the provisions until December 2006.
