Alcohol still tops list of Galway addictions
Alcohol remains the single-biggest drug abused by Galway people availing of addiction treatment – heroin, morphine and cannabis are problematic too.
Alcohol is the number one drug misused by addicts who presented to Galway’s Local Health Office in the four years to 2012, according to figures obtained by the Galway City Tribune.
The latest drugs statistics, extracted from the National Drug Treatment Reporting System, highlight the use of hard core drugs such as heroin, prescribed pain-relieving drugs such as morphine, as well as ‘recreational’ drugs such as cannabis.
Galway West TD, Brian Walsh (FG), who obtained the figures from the Health Service Executive, said alcohol and drug addiction remains a serious problem facing society.
“Alcohol abuse has been recognised as a damaging social problem in Ireland since the 19th century. It is clear from the latest figures that it remains a significant problem,” said Deputy Walsh.
“It is arguably more difficult to address than the abuse of some other substances because, historically, it has been culturally embedded in our society. But the figures can also be interpreted as the source of some encouragement, as they reflect a high number of people taking the step of seeking help for an addiction to alcohol.
“It’s really important for people to know that there are services in place should they need to seek help. These figures show that help is available and that people are taking up the offer of that help.”
The data reveals that a total of 529 cases were treated by the addiction services of the Galway Local Health Office in 2012. For some 281 of these – or 53% – the main drug problem they had was alcohol.
The remainder was for opiates, which represented 138 cases, or 26%, followed by cannabis, which represented the main drug problem in 15% of cases.
Cocaine accounted for the main drug problem in just nine cases, while Benzodiazepines was the main drug addiction in just 13 cases.
In 2009, cocaine was twice as likely to be the main drug problem of those attending addiction services in Galway but at 23 cases – compared with nine in 2012 – it was still relatively nowhere near as big a problem as alcohol or other drugs.
Opiates, which would include heroin and morphine, is on the rise: Analysis of the figures shows that opiates was the main drug problem of 22% of users in 2011 but that jumped to 26% in 2012.
There were no cases recorded in Galway where amphetamines, ecstasy or ‘volatile inhalants’ were the main drug problem of addicts presenting locally.
In a statement the HSE said: “In 2012, 62% of cases were treated in an outpatient setting, 28% were treated in an inpatient setting and 8% were treated in a low-threshold setting.”
It stressed that the figures relate to a case, or a treatment episode, and not an individual.