Cocaine users in Ireland are increasingly presenting in such an emaciated state that they are “slowly dying in front of us”, the CEO of Merchant’s Quay has said. 

The organisation that supports people suffering from homelessness and drug addiction, with support centres in a number of counties. 

On The Claire Byrne Show, Merchants Quay CEO Eddie Mullins said to describe the addicts who approach them for help as “emaciated” is “not an understatement”. 

“We've been watching this for the last year, in particularly in our service in Riverbank on Merchants Key,” he said. 

“My colleagues are appalled at what they see; they're looking at people coming in who are emaciated, who are completely undernourished - it's nearly impossible to describe how they present. 

“They don't present like people who are in any sort of good health and they're struggling with their mental health. 

“They're struggling with anxiety, depression and the desire to to get more crack cocaine is the number one issue for them.”

Mr Mullins continued that those who present to Merchant’s Quay seeking help are typically not recreational drug users and are entirely drug dependent. 

“We're looking at them and it's not an overstatement to say we're looking at people slowly dying in front of us,” he said. 

“There's no question about that.”

In 2022, 343 people died from drug use in Ireland; no figures are publicly available for the years since then, however, the number of people presenting for cocaine treatment has risen since then. 

Main image: Cocaine use. Picture by: Alamy.com.