The findings also indicate that while 89% of current users got their sedatives or tranquillisers on prescription from the chemist, 11% of those using prescription medicines obtained them without a prescription.
These findings are amongst the key results contained in Bulletin 6: Drug Use in Ireland and Northern Ireland 2006/2007 Drug Prevalence Survey: Sedatives or Tranquillisers, and Anti-depressants Results. The bulletin examines age of first use, frequency of use, method of taking them, how they were obtained and the profile of typical sedative or tranquilliser, and anti-depressant users. The bulletin also presents use on a lifetime (ever used), last year (recent use) and last month (current use) basis.
This is the second Drugs Prevalence Survey, following that commissioned in 2002/3 by the NACD in Ireland and the Public Health Information and Research Branch (PHIRB) in Northern Ireland.
Minister of State with responsibility for the National Drugs Strategy John Curran T.D. welcomed the report and said that it illustrated the need to focus on legal as well as illegal drugs in addressing the overall problems of substance abuse in Ireland.
Commenting on the figures, NACD Chairperson, Dr Des Corrigan stated that the report found associations between gender and various indicators of deprivation and higher prevalence rates.
The findings indicate that long term state dependence, not being in paid work and lower levels of educational attainment are linked with higher prevalence rates.
The report also found that females are more likely than males to have ever used sedatives, tranquillisers and antidepressants with 6% of females reporting use in the last year as compared to 4% for males and lifetime use reported at 13% for females compared to 8% for males. Consequently, the over prescribing of benodiazepines (BZDs) among disadvantaged vulnerable groups, in particular, opiate dependent persons and females, is a major issue according to NACD.
Another concern arising from the report may be issues in relation to the misuse of certain prescription only medicines, such as sedatives and tranquillisers/ BZDs. The study revealed that of those respondents who used sedatives or tranquillisers 7% got them from someone they knew and 2% bought them without a prescription at a chemist.
The NACD recommends that these findings be discussed with the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland as the pharmacy regulator and that the overall findings in the Bulletin are brought to the attention of the Irish Medicines Board (IMB) as the competent authority for Medicinal Products in Ireland.
Dr. Corrigan added that continued use of this type of survey is essential in picking up trends over time. Such general population surveys, which give a snapshot in time of what is happening in relation to drug use in the lives of ordinary households, can only realistically be conducted every four years or so. Meanwhile, he said that the NACD will be recommending the implementation of a Drug Trend Monitoring System as part of its submission to the Steering Group for the review of the National Drugs Strategy.
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