Rising incidence of ageing opioid users within the EU wide treatment demand indicator; The Irish opioid epidemic from 1996 to 2014

Opioid use is the second most prevalent illicit drug use disorder worldwide and is a serious health concern associated with significant morbidity and mortality (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2017). There are currently 1.3 million people with high-risk opioid use in Europe (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 2017a). European data across thirty countries shows that 191,000 clients entered treatment in 2015 with opioids as their primary drug problem (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 2017a).

Source: Drug and Alcohol Dependence - October 6, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: Anne Marie Carew, Catherine Comiskey Source Type: research