There has been a ten-fold increase in the number of people seeking help for the problem use of cocaine, new figures show.
A report to be published later this year by the Health Research Board (HRB) will show the numbers treated for cocaine use increased from 48 in 1999 to 482 in 2005.
This latest indication of the growing scale of cocaine use comes less than a week after Dublin county coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty issued a stark warning about the dangers of cocaine use. This followed the deaths of five people - all linked to cocaine use - whose cases came before the coroner's court last week.
Of those who cite cocaine as their main problem drug, recent research by the HRB found a large proportion (39 per cent) used it between two to six days a week. Almost a quarter (23 per cent) said they used it daily.
The increase in the numbers being treated for cocaine reflect a broader trend of growing cocaine use across Ireland.
Cocaine-related offences, such as supply, theft and public order offences, have soared from 297 in 2002 to 1,224 in 2005, surpassing the number of heroin-related offences.
Cocaine seizures, an indicator of supply, have jumped from 17kg in 2002 to about 270kg in 2006.
There has also been a six-fold increase in the number of cocaine-positive samples detected in post-mortems between 2000 and 2005.
Maireád Lyons, director of the National Advisory Committee on Drugs - which advises the Government on problem drug use - said the deaths highlighted last week illustrated the need to dispel the myth that cocaine was a safe drug.
"There is a challenge there for everyone involved in health promotion to remind people about the risks of cocaine use," she said. "Young people have a tendency to think they're invincible. We see that with young men on the roads. We need to ensure these young people realise that these risks are very real."
She said there was a wide range of physical and psychiatric problems associated with cocaine use, many of which are serious and potentially fatal.
Cocaine affects heart rhythms, which can lead to heart attacks. Cardiac complications - a factor common to most of the deaths that came before the coroner's court this week - are the most common cause of death among cocaine users.
Research shows that cocaine combines with alcohol in the system to form another drug - cocaethylene - which is more toxic than using either drug alone.
