As in other parts of the State, adolescent abuse of alcohol and illegal drugs is a problem in the mid-west, and the drug culture is embedded in third-level student life.
Organised crime in Limerick is small-scale, but, almost inevitably, it tends to be tied up with drugs and cigarette smuggling. So far this year, there have been seizures of cannabis, ecstasy and cocaine.
Det Garda Oliver Stapleton, of the Limerick drugs squad, says there is not as yet a major problem with hard drugs, but regular cocaine and heroin seizures leave gardai in no doubt that there is a local market for them.
"Everything from cannabis to LSD to ecstasy to speed is available in every town and village and every country crossroads in Ireland," he says.
Cocaine has become less expensive and is now being aimed at less affluent drug users, he adds.
Because of increased mobility, dealers are less visible in country areas. "Limerick is only 2 1/2 hours from Dublin. People are able to get around a lot more quickly and smoothly," he points out.
Although Shannon Airport has been a focal point for smuggling, the drugs seized are usually intended for wider distribution.
In April this year, 10kg of cannabis was found in the possession of a Spanish national. Last November, a Jamaican woman was found to have 51 capsules of cocaine in her possession.
Meanwhile, coastal seizures have dried up in recent years. The most notable case was the discovery four years ago of 50kg of cocaine aboard a Columbian ship docked at Moneypoint, Co Clare. But recognition that the River Shannon was being used by gangs to smuggle drugs into Northern Ireland has led to gardai utilising a new £250,000 boat on the waterway.
Det Garda Stapleton says the main focus of prevention is education at secondary schools and among third-level students. "If you get rid of the demand, then you get rid of the supply," he says.
But alcohol is recognised as the most damaging of drugs, despite, or maybe because of, its legality. At the University of Limerick, life skills modules, introduced over the past two years, include alcohol awareness as part of self-development and interpersonal skills courses.