According to figures released by the Health Research Board this week, cannabis has been found to be the second most common drug recorded in new cases of treated problem drug use in Ireland from 2011 to 2016.
The National Drug Treatment Reporting System recorded information year over year from 2010 to 2016 in a report entitled, ‘Drug Treatment in Ireland.’
The system looked at 63,187 cases of treated problematic drug use during the years, which each case referring to a single “treatment episode” instead of an individual, as “the same individual could be recorded more than once in the calendar year,” said the agency.
The most commonly reported “main problem drug” year on year was opiates, accounting for 47% of all cases in 2016 and 60.1% of all treated cases previously in the same year.
Cannabis was the second most commonly reported substance behind opiates year on year with 26.4% of all cases recorded in 2016.
Cocaine came in third at 12.3% of cases.
