Alcohol Action Ireland press release, Tuesday, 22 September 2026
Alcohol Action Ireland (AAI), the national independent advocate to reduce alcohol harm, has today published its latest report, The relationship between alcohol and other drug use, which draws on national data alongside international evidence to examine the co-use of alcohol and other drugs including cocaine, cannabis, benzodiazepines, opioids, ketamine and MDMA/ecstasy. The report shows that alcohol is rarely the incidental partner in polydrug use, and frequently the foundational driver.
AAI CEO Dr Sheila Gilheany said: “Alcohol is Ireland’s most widely consumed drug, with almost ten times more people using it than illegal drugs. Yet public and political debate too often treats alcohol harm and drug harm as separate concerns or overlooks alcohol altogether. This framing is not only inaccurate but actively unhelpful because it obscures the substance most consistently implicated in polydrug harm – alcohol.
“Alcohol use and drug use are not two separate issues. The evidence shows that alcohol is frequently a driver of the consumption of other drugs and that in combination there are even more risks and harms. For example, HRB data indicates that 85% of lifetime users of cocaine in Ireland also used alcohol on the occasion of first use. One of the main areas of concern is that polydrug use has become increasingly common among young people, especially as youth drinking levels in Ireland have surged from 66% of 15-24-year-olds in 2016 to 78% in 2025, a rate not seen since the early 2000s when youth drinking was considered to be at crisis levels.
“In 2025, the number of cases treated for problem alcohol use in Ireland increased to 8,798 cases. Of those cases, almost one in three also reported problem use of more than one substance, with cocaine (72.1%) the most common additional drug used followed by cannabis (50.4%), benzodiazepines (17.5%) and opioids (9.8%). Cocaine was the main drug reported alongside alcohol among those aged 20-49 years, while cannabis was the main drug reported alongside alcohol in other age groups.
“In addition, 61.8% of cases of treatment for illegal drug use reported problem use of more than one drug; of these cases alcohol was the additional problem drug for 35.2%. Concerningly, among new cases with polydrug use, alcohol (50.2%) was the most common additional substance.
“Moreover, a number of studies have investigated polydrug use including one that examined a sample of Irish festivalgoers. This report found that the majority reported polydrug use, most commonly an average of three substances (with a minimum of two and a maximum of eight); combinations involving alcohol, cocaine, ketamine, and ecstasy were the most commonly cited.”
In recent years, a body of research has been emerging in relation to four harmful commodities which account for more than half of deaths in Ireland: tobacco, alcohol, fossil fuels, and unhealthy foods. Alcohol is often overlooked in discussions regarding poor health, especially in comparison to tobacco, but research indicates that alcohol constitutes a much heavier financial burden on people, the health service, and the taxpayer. This research is also true in terms of the far greater economic burden of alcohol harm than that of illegal drugs.
Dr Gilheany continued: “The evidence is consistent across every substance examined: co-use with alcohol intensifies harm. Yet amid growing attention to illegal drugs, alcohol – Ireland’s most prevalent and most damaging drug – remains persistently overlooked. For example, the terms of reference of the recent Citizens Assembly on Drugs specifically excluded consideration of alcohol. In contrast many of the agencies providing treatment services or working in the areas of education and prevention do so for both alcohol and illegal drugs.
“What is clear is that efforts to reduce illegal drug use will not succeed without concurrent actions to address Ireland’s alcohol consumption. Crucially, the strong association between early alcohol use and later drug use points to a clear policy lever – reducing and delaying alcohol consumption, particularly among young people, offers a means of addressing both alcohol and illegal drug harm.
“National and international evidence strongly indicates that interventions on affordability, advertising, and availability are the most effective public policy measures that governments can take to offset at least some of the harm caused by alcohol. An important benefit of such an approach is the likely reduction in the consumption of other drugs and a good place for government to start would be to raise excise duties on alcohol in the upcoming Budget.
“Ireland has already taken important steps in developing a public health approach to alcohol through the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018. However, slow implementation of the modest measures within it means that this legislation has not yet achieved its full potential. Meanwhile other areas of government seek to support the alcohol industry including delaying measures such as controls on advertising and on health information labelling.
“As the State pursues a health-led approach to illegal drug use in Ireland, it is essential that government policy and messaging unequivocally states that alcohol carries significant risks and that combining alcohol and illegal drugs is even more dangerous, with multiple negative health implications beyond the consumption of a substance individually.
“A renewed focus on alcohol is needed both within the upcoming Drugs Strategy and across government, so that there is a fully coherent approach to both alcohol and illegal drugs. Acknowledging these realities and implementing the cross-departmental policies which are proven to work will ultimately save lives, improve Ireland’s health and ensure a safer environment for all.”
ENDS
