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Current cannabis use has fallen from 17% in 1995, to 9% in 2019 and to 5% in 2024, study shows.
Tue, 20 May, 2025 – 18:19
Cormac O’Keeffe, Security Correspondent
Cannabis, alcohol and cigarette use among Irish teenagers in their mid-teens has dropped dramatically over the last 30 years — a trend that has continued in the past five years.
But, since 2019, this has coincided with an increase in gambling and gaming among Irish children, with Ireland above the European average for both in 2024.
A major European study of pupils aged 15-16 across 40 countries reveals while Irish children were way above the European average back in 1995, they are now well below it for alcohol and cigarettes and at average for cannabis use and e-cigarettes, or vapes.
The 2024 report of the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs said Ireland was one of three countries with the “greatest reductions” in lifetime cigarette use and alcohol consumption since 1995.
An analysis of data published in the study — which is carried out every four to five years — reveals:
- Lifetime cannabis use has dropped from 36% of Irish 15-16 year-olds surveyed in 1995 to 16% in 2019 and to 12% in 2024 — compared to the European average of 11%, 16% and 12% respectively;
- Current cannabis use has fallen from 17% in 1995, to 9% in 2019 and to 5% in 2024 — compared to the European average of 4%, 7% and 5%;
- Lifetime use of illicit drugs, other than cannabis, fell from 17% in 1995, to 6% in 2019 and to 4% in 2024 — compared to European average of 3%, 5% and 5% respectively;
- Lifetime alcohol use has dropped from 91% in 1995, to 72% in 2019 and to 67% in 2024 (European average of 88%, 80% and 74% respectively);
- Current alcohol use has decreased from 66%, to 41% and to 35% (European average of 55%, 48% and 43%);
- Heavy episodic drinking has fallen from 47%, to 32% and to 23% (European average of 36%, 35% and 30%);
- Lifetime use of cigarettes has dropped from 73%, to 31% and to 24% (68%, 42% and 32%);
- Current cigarette use has fallen from 41%, to 14% and to 9% (33%, 20% and 18%).
The study shows use of e-cigarette (vapes) are higher, with combined cigarette/e-cigarette usage at 22% in 2019 and 18% in 2024 — the same as the European average.
Gambling figures, which have only been collected since 2019, show 29% of Irish 15-16-year-olds in 2024 said they gambled in the previous 12 months, compared to 24% in 2019 (European average 23% and 22% respectively).
Gaming figures have significantly increased too, with 87% of Irish children saying they were gaming in the last 12 months, compared to 57% in 2019 (European average 80% and 72%).
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