The number of people who believe that those who are dependent on drugs only have themselves to blame has fallen by almost half in the past 25 years, dropping from 57% to 30%.
Research published by Merchants Quay Ireland has revealed a shift in attitudes towards drug addiction, however, it found stigma remains.
Similar research was conducted in 2000, when sympathy for people who were drug dependent was limited.
The latest study, which involved face-to-face meetings with over 1,000 members of the public, sought to explore public attitudes and potential stigma towards those dependent on drugs.
Roughly half of the respondents personally knew someone with a past or present drug problem, most commonly those aged 25 to 49.
Two-thirds of them said they tended to avoid people who were drug dependent, which is a fall from 71% in 25 years.
There was also a drop of 7% in the number of respondents who said it would bother them to live near someone who was drug dependent (70% to 63%).
The study found 36% believed there should be tougher sentences for those who used drugs, which is down from 51% in the first survey and 43% believed those dependent on drugs were not given a fair chance in society, which is up from 31% in 2000.
The number of people who said drug-dependent people "really scare them" has also reduced from 66% to 50%.
63% of respondents said it would bother them to live near someone who was drug dependent, which is down from 70% and 36% believe in tougher sentences for those who use drugs, down from 51%
Merchants Quay Ireland has said that while stigma remains, the public is more educated and aware of the causes and solutions to tackling addiction than 25 years ago.
'It just escalated'
Niall Hickey was nine years old when he first tried hash.
He knew from that age that alcohol was not for him, but a joint was.
In the early 1990s, when shell tracksuits and break dancing were all the rage, acid became available.
"It was just the culture of the early 90s. Acid, E’s ... and it just escalated".
At 18 years old, he was addicted to heroin.
Watch: "I would have never looked at stigma the way I do now,' says Niall Hickey
"When you’re on heroin, it's physical. Whereas crack cocaine is psychological. The physical effects of withdrawals from heroin is not nice, and it's like, you need heroin.
"The things you do to feed that addiction it turns people against you because when you're in that, you're not a nice person, because you have to do things to survive," he said.
By 2014, Mr Hickey was homeless. He had spent time in prison where he detoxed only to relapse again.
He was on methadone, otherwise known as Foy, until one day he woke up in his tent and had enough.
When Mr Hickey was at the height of his addiction, he said he was not aware of stigma towards him or his family at the time.
"I would have never looked at stigma the way I do now, only for I did a course on it. But the amount of stigma I put my mother, my father, my sisters and my brothers through from being on the stuff.
"You know, people looking at them differently in the area because I was going around selling stuff and robbing cars and doing mad stuff. And at the time, I wasn't thinking, this is hurting my family," he said.
Mr Hickey now works for the peer-led outreach service Uisce, where he is helping others experiencing addiction.
"I think where they go wrong in all these addiction places is they bring in people that learn from books.
"The experience you have is a lot better than somebody else's experience that they've learned out of the book, because you know what that person is going through," he said.
Mr Hickey is currently on 30mg of methadone a day but he is steadily reducing dependence and laughs when he is commended for his progress: "It only took forty years."
His addiction 25 years ago would have been viewed differently by the public compared to today.
Dr Ronda Barron, who is deputy head of research at Merchants Quay Ireland, said challenges remain.
"Roughly 2/3 of people would tend to avoid an individual who has drug dependence. But on the positive side, we've seen sustained or increased support for harm reduction strategies and particularly towards a health-led approach," she said.
Cocaine is currently the most common drug for which individuals are seeking treatment in Ireland.
CEO of Merchants Quay Ireland Eddie Mullins believes stigma is weighted towards a particular cohort of society.
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"We look at people who use our services, who are, for the most part in very difficult circumstances, maybe homeless, maybe they look and present differently to your typical Saturday night cocaine user.
"There is a different view taken of middle-class drug use. So, while there are improvements in people's attitudes towards people who take drugs, we’ve still a long to go I think," Mr Mullins said.
Overall, 81% of Irish people agreed that the drugs problem is "out of control" in Ireland, but the view across all demographics was that alcohol abuse causes more societal problems than drug abuse.
The research has led Merchants Quay Ireland to request that all individuals with drug addiction have access to treatment services based on clinical need, regardless of their ability to abstain.
The report recommends that Ireland’s harm reduction infrastructure be expanded nationwide, including medically supervised injection centres.
It has also suggested that age-appropriate, evidence-based drug education, beginning at primary school, be integrated into the national curriculum.
Merchants Quay Ireland said that while stigma remains, the public is more educated and aware of the causes and solutions to tackling addiction than 25 years ago.
There is little doubt that society is more willing to listen to the reasons behind drug addiction today, such as childhood trauma, than they were in the past.
Merchants Quay Ireland also believes the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs helped to open the conversation to the wider public.
