We also have one of the highest levels of cocaine consumption per session.
Ireland is one of the most expensive countries to buy cocaine in, a new study has revealed.
According to the Global Drug Survey 2018, the average price of a gram of the class A substance in Ireland is €80.40 making it the twelfth most expensive internationally.
What's more, Irish users go through an average of 0.6 grams of cocaine on a single occasion, making this the fourth highest rate internationally.
That puts Ireland ahead of the US in fifth, but behind Scotland, which has the highest rate of cocaine consumption per session at 1.2g. The national average in Scotland is also twice that of the global median of 0.3g.
The latest survey was based on the experiences of approximately 130,000 respondents from more than 40 countries, including 471 Irish citizens.
Furthermore, it also found that while 99.7% of Irish respondents had consumed legal drugs during their lifetime, approximately 70% had taken an illegal substance.
On a broader level, 98.8% of all respondents had consumed alcohol in their lifetime, followed by tobacco at 61.3%. However, more interestingly the consumption rates of cannabis (57.5%) slightly exceeded that of caffeine (57.1%) over a lifetime, but more significantly in the past 12 months (Cannabis: 46.3%; Caffeine: 43.2%).
Similarly, the gap between consumption of cannabis (46.3%) and tobacco (47.9%) has lessened in the past 12 months.
Amongst the many results, which can be read in full
here, some of the more interesting findings on Irish drug consumption include:
- 1.9% of Irish respondents sought medical treatment after consuming alcohol in the past 12 months, which is the eighth highest rate globally.
- 70.4% of Irish respondents mixed cannabis with tobacco.
- Irish users consume 0.45g of MDMA per session, which is the fifth highest globally.
- 32.5% of Irish respondents start with a "test dose" of MDMA before trying a new batch of the drug.
- 0.7% of Irish MDMA users required medical treatment, which is below the global average of 0.9%.
While the majority of drugs referenced in the study remain illegal in Ireland, the topic of decriminalisation has become debated and considered more seriously.
On Tuesday, Garda Assistant Commissioner Pat Leahy said the matter of supervised injecting rooms would be supported by the force as a necessity that could save lives during a Dublin City Council joint policing committee.
Meanwhile, the Green Party has begun actively campaigning for a bill that would decriminalise cannabis given that current legislation has "made criminals out of decent people."
In the proposed policy, the party has requested that it no longer be classed as a criminal offence if a person over the age of 18 is in possession of less than five grams of cannabis.
The party has also called for the Misuse of Drugs act to be amended, for individuals to be permitted to grow up to two cannabis plants in their home for personal use, and for access to be granted to cannabis-based medicines that can be used under a supervised system similar to that currently in Germany.
