THE REPUBLIC’S heroin problem is worse than in any EU country for which figures are available – and it also has the longest waiting lists for treatment for those addicted to the drug, a Europe-wide report has revealed.

The research shows an average of seven people in every 1,000 in the Republic are defined as problem opiate, or heroin, users.

This is the worst record of the 15 European states for which heroin-user data was available. The number of heroin users is more than twice as high as the majority of the other countries.

The 2010 annual report for the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction also indicates the extent of the recession-related collapse of the Republic’s illicit cocaine trade.

The number of seizures of the drug has fallen by two-thirds since its peak. In 2007 there were 1,749 seizures, but last year that fell to 635 seizures.

Despite this, the Republic is listed among a small group of EU states – along with the UK, Italy, Denmark and Spain – seen as having a serious cocaine problem.

There is praise in the report for the Government’s handling of the head shops issue.

“Ireland has achieved notable success in limiting the sale of new psychotic substances,” it notes.

Waiting lists outside Dublin for heroin addiction treatment are the highest in Europe, at up to two years. However, the percentage of heroin users in treatment, at 50 per cent, is very high compared to other EU countries.

Data in the report confirms the demand for heroin market is stronger than for other drugs since the recession started. This is not surprising, given the traditional relationship between poverty, social disadvantage and heroin use.

Cocaine seizures had fallen by two-thirds since the 2007 peak, but those of heroin had only fallen by 14 per cent. In 2009 there were 1,455 heroin seizures, compared with 635 cocaine seizures.

There were 63 cocaine-related deaths in the Republic in 2007 – the latest period for which figures were available.

While the Republic ranks first in the heroin-user per capita list in the research, and fifth for cocaine consumption, it is behind other European countries in cannabis consumption rates.

Italy and the Czech Republic, where 28 per cent of the adult population reported cannabis use, are the highest users of the drug in the EU. The Republic is among a group of countries “placed in the mid-range” for cannabis use, with 6.3 per cent of adults reporting recent use of the drug.

The research found ecstasy consumption is low compared with the rest of Europe. Just 2.5 per cent of adults have used it, compared with almost 8 per cent in Czech Republic, which reported the highest rates of consumption in the EU.