A new initiative to reduce the risks involved in injecting cocaine has been launched at a conference at Croke Park in Dublin.
The harm reduction campaign involves measures to protect cocaine users from accidental sharing of syringes.
Users who share syringes risk contracting Hepatitis C and HIV. Coloured syringe identification markers are being introduced to help drug users recognise their own equipment.
A recent study by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime listed Ireland as the country with the fifth most dramatic increase in cocaine use in the past year.
Ireland is the only developed country in the top five.
