Cora Harvey is clinical nurse manager – Donegal Mental Health Service. She has added her concern to that voiced by the HSE’s national clinical lead for addiction, Professor Eamon Keenan that the rates of young women taking cocaine in Ireland has risen significantly.

The Citizens’ Assembly’s on Drugs Use inaugural meeting laid bare the startling societal impact. It heard the cost of drug use is equivalent to €650 million, which includes costs to hospitals, prison, the criminal justice system as well as productivity losses associated with drug use.

In 2021 there were 4,206 new presentations for drug treatment, up from 3,802 in the previous year.

Speaking to the Donegal News, Ms Harvey said: “We have seen a rise in Donegal with the number of young women using cocaine. The national picture is reflected locally, but in fact we believe the true scale of the problem is underreported.

“Often when people come in for treatment they record alcohol as their primary drug use unless cocaine is picked up upon. It is underreported.”

Ms Harvey said the majority of the increase of use is being seen in women aged between 18 to 24 years. The cohort of women aged between 24 to their early 30s are also among the highest users, she said.

“I think a big part of the problem is that a lot of people are seeing cocaine use as quite normal and are using it almost for appearance. There are a lot of people who do not drink, yet to the trained eye you know what is going on; that there has been a substance taken.

“With 18 to 24-year-olds, they are only beginning their socialising life. For them, I think a huge factor is the availability of the drug and of course peer pressure, which is a generational and societal problem.”

Ms Harvey said the impact of cocaine use often leads a person to “crash”.

“Cocaine on the market today is not the same cocaine of 10 to 15 years ago. It is not pure cut and it is laced with other chemicals making it easier to supply more to meet demand. But, the drug being mixed with chemicals is leading to huge mental health difficulties.

“Coming down from cocaine causes a crash, a depression. Many are using cocaine because of the fact they are not getting a hangover the next day. There is a high level of addiction with cocaine.”

Life struggles and a lack of coping mechanisms can see some turning to cocaine, said Ms Harvey.

“Often we are finding that young women using cocaine don’t have resilience to things going on in their lives and use cocaine as a coping mechanism, and so a vicious circle begins. A lot of people could be using it on some level to help them cope. It used to be the bottle of wine and now it is cocaine because supply is there to meet the demand.

“The fear element is also gone. The fear of being caught or being labelled as a drug user is not there anymore. At the very end of the spectrum is embarrassment.”

Ms Harvey is calling for a multi-faceted approach to tackle the issue.

“We are getting people into treatment but we have to promote education and awareness of the dangers of cocaine. Schools, youth clubs do a certain amount as does policing.”

She said the receipt of a little pocket of funding enabled the training on a UK-based programme called the Resonance Factor. It provided a greater insight.

“The Resonance Factor was created because there is no intervention that has been devised to date that can stop an individual from using substances, because substance use is ultimately based on the choice of the individual.

“The central focus of the model is the exploration of the user’s relationship with their drug of choice. It is used in the UK. We adapted it here and got training on it.”

Ms Harvey said the number of people coming forward for group recovery sessions in Donegal and in other counties including Sligo remains low.