More People Seeking Rehab for Psychoactive Drugs as Cocaine Treatment at All-Time High - 21/05/2026

Growing numbers of people are having to be treated for new psychoactive drugs and ketamine use, while demand for cocaine recovery is at an all-time high, a report has shown.The Health Research Board report on drug treatment in Ireland last year showed 15,422 cases received therapy for problem drug use.Cocaine remains Ireland’s most common drug treated, excluding alcohol. There were 6,535 cases of cocaine treatment, the highest number recorded to date. Last year, treatment demand for powder cocaine increased by 21pc to 834 cases. For crack cocaine treatment, it went up by 31pc.Cocaine also remains the main problem drug for more than half of cases new to treatment and more than one in three previously treated.We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Medical Director and GP Specialising in Addiction Medicine, Dr Garrett McGovern, to find out more about this. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.