Cannabis remains the most common illegal drug used in Ireland, according to this year's European Drug Report.
The report finds that 13.8% of people aged between 15 and 34-years-old have used the drug in the past year.
The use of cannabis has been steadily on the rise since 2011, when the figure was at 10.3%.
Prevalence of cannabis use among young adults. Image: European Drug Report 2019MDMA
MDMA is the second-most commonly used drug with 4.4% of young people saying they had used it in the past year.
The drug has seen the biggest rise in popularity of all the substances included in the study – shooting up from a low of 0.9% in 2011.
The percentage of people who report taking MDMA is rising faster in Ireland than anywhere else in the EU.
Prevalence of MDMA use among young adults. Image: European Drug Report 2019Cocaine
Cocaine use has remained relatively steady over the years – with the 2.9% of people who have used it in the last year up slightly from the 2.8% in 2011. The figure was at 3.1% in 2007.
The number of young adults who have used amphetamines in the past year has dropped to 0.6% from a high of 0.8% on 2011.
Overall the use of drugs has been steadily rising since 2002 when fewer than two-in-ten adults said they had ever taken any illegal drug.
That figure had increased to three-in-ten by 2015 and, based on yearly figures, has been rising slightly ever since.
Cocaine seizures across Europe. Image: European Drug Report 2019Europe
At European level, the report has found signs that the availability of cocaine is increasing across the continent.
The data shows that both the number of seizures of the drug and the volumes seized are at record levels.
Around 140.4 tonnes of cocaine was seized in the EU in 2017 – up from 70.9 tonnes in 2016.
Cocaine remains the most commonly used illegal stimulant in the EU with around 2.6 million people aged between 15 and 24-years-old saying they had taken it in the last year.
Cocaine seizures across Europe. Image: European Drug Report 2019Drugs
Around 96 million European adults have tried an illicit drug in their lifetime, according to this year's report.
There were over one million drug seizures in the EU, Turkey and Norway last year.
Drug use remains most common among younger age groups and among men.
