Rise in risky drug injecting in Cork City

This includes injecting into the groin and neck, as well as injecting alone and in the open.

The study said there is also concern around the “growing issue” of visible drug littering and of needle-stick injury among the non-drug-using population. Researchers said it is against this background that they identified where drug-injecting occurs in Cork City and the sites of non-fatal and fatal overdoses.

Based on interviews with 51 drug-injectors, the study identified 58 fatal overdoses and 47 non-fatal overdoses and mapped possible locations for any future supervised injecting facility (SIF).

Following a landmark government decision in December 2015, a pilot SIF in Dublin city centre was awarded to Merchants Quay Ireland. It is going through a lengthy planning process.

The Cork Local Drugs and Alcohol Task Force and the HSE have expressed interest in examining such a facility in Cork, but the HSE has indicated it will depend on the success, or otherwise, of the Dublin pilot.

Rise in risky drug injecting in Cork City

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