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A fifth of problem drinkers are also addicted to drugs like cannabis or cocaine

A fifth of people with an alcohol problem in Ireland are also addicted to drugs like cannabis and...
Michael Staines
Michael Staines

16.54 20 Mar 2019


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A fifth of problem drinkers ar...

A fifth of problem drinkers are also addicted to drugs like cannabis or cocaine

Michael Staines
Michael Staines

16.54 20 Mar 2019


Share this article


A fifth of people with an alcohol problem in Ireland are also addicted to drugs like cannabis and cocaine.

A new study by the Health Research Board (HRB) shows that almost 8,000 people sought treatment for a drink problem in 2017.

The report found that growing numbers of people are not seeking help for the first time until their alcohol problem has already become "severe."

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67% of people who presented for help were already dependent on alcohol, up from 50 per cent in 2011.

Drug use

Dr Suzi Lyons, senior researcher with the HRB, said many people with drink problems are battling addiction on more than one front.

"One in five people who present with alcohol as a main problem drug also have problems with other drugs - most commonly cannabis and cocaine.

"What this means is it just makes treatment that little bit more difficult and recovery that little bit more difficult."

Underage

The report found that on average, people who sought help in 2017 had started drinking when they were 16-years-old.

Dr Lyons said that is one statistic that has not changed over the years.

"The average age when people started to first drink is aged 16," she said.

"That hasn't changed over the reporting period."

"Alcohol is a chronic relapsing condition where people have to return time and time again."

Alcohol Image: The Health Research Board

Alcohol

The HRB report notes that just over 55,000 people sought help for alcohol use between 2011 and 2017.

Almost three quarters were classed as alcohol dependent.

Almost two-thirds were men and the average age of people seeking help was 41-years-old.

Meanwhile, over half were unemployed and nearly one-in-ten were homeless.

"Stark"

This morning, the Chairman of Alcohol Health Alliance Ireland, Professor Frank Murray, said those figures in particular are frightening.

"They are two quite stark figures and you just really get a sense of the devastation that alcohol causes to large numbers of people," he said.

"It has a huge effect on the person who drinks themselves, on their family and on society."

Alcohol Image: Health Research Board

Family

Stephanie lived with one of the 55 thousand people who looked for help with their alcohol use between 2011 and 2017.

"When you are living with addiction, they have a way of telling you that the way they are is your fault," she said.

"If somebody is telling you that long enough, you begin to believe it.

She added that: "When one person in a household, living in an alcoholic situation, when one person gets recovery, the whole family benefits."


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