Drug use across rural Ireland continues to ramp up with local estimates putting cocaine use among young farmers at 30% in the midwest region alone.

Those working on the frontline of drug treatment believe recreational drug use is now becoming acceptable in agriculture, with contractors also worried that drug money is infiltrating their industry.

Jim Finn is a retired farmer and chair of the Mid Western Region Drugs and Alcohol Forum. He says from anecdotal reports he has received, a growing cohort of young farmers is engaging in drug use.

“We have legitimate concerns that at least 30% of young, well-educated farmers in the midwest region are using cocaine as a recreational drug,” he says.

“Cocaine has crept slowly into rural Ireland, it didn’t happen overnight, but this is a growing worry for farm families all over the country, who are coming to us seeking help. We also have the owners of venues in towns throughout the region reporting cocaine use on their premises and I’ve been at farm events where concerns over drug use is becoming a regular conversation.

Drugs epidemic

“The fact of it is, cocaine is cheaper than the price of a pint and young people believe they can consume it at the weekend and come away unscathed. But that is not the reality for the thousands of young people who fall into addiction.”

Jim believes a strong response from society is needed to tackle drug use and abuse.

“I don’t think anyone is doing enough to tackle this. Every single place where young people congregate, be it GAA clubs, soccer, golf, every sport under the sun, this should be on the agenda for discussion,” he adds.

“Drugs are an epidemic in this country and I don’t know if we will ever get on top of it.”

Last week, the Health Referral Scheme was introduced by Government; this allows An Garda Síochána to refer someone found in possession of drugs for personal use to the Health Service Executive (HSE) for a health intervention, instead of prosecution.

Once referred, the person can then enrol in an appropriate rehab and treatment programme, or face prosecution. The measure was a part of a suite of recommendations made by the Citizens’ Assembly on Drug Use held in 2023.

However, critics of the scheme believe it will not reach the most vulnerable drug users.

As far as Jim is concerned, there’s a case for stronger measures which he said would go further to support those affected by drug addiction.

I would say 75% of rural people don’t believe drugs are an issue in their area which is because they haven’t been affected by it, so it’s easy to look the other way

“I believe there’s merit in legalising drugs as you’re taking the criminality out of it. If drugs were on a par with alcohol and nicotine, the revenue could be used to fund treatment and rehabilitation services,” he adds.

“But the bigger problem right now is the blind eye approach by the majority of people living in rural communities.

“I would say 75% of rural people don’t believe drugs are an issue in their area which is because they haven’t been affected by it, so it’s easy to look the other way.

“Yet I know of villages where drugs are stashed behind statues that are known drug drop-off points. Dealers are clever and very opportunistic. They’ll target the quieter young people who want to fit in and feel like they belong. We know of farmyards where drugs have been found in dung heaps, often with the farmer totally unaware of what’s on his land.”

Meanwhile, agriculture contractors have told Irish Country Living that they believe their industry is being used to launder drug money in rural Ireland.

Speaking from the midwest, one contractor says he believes that young contractors are using drugs while bigger players are investing in agricultural machinery as a screen for drug dealing.

“You’ve young lads working through the night at busy times of the year, such as silage, and there is no way you can do that on a continuous basis without it having an effect,” he says.

“We have heard stories of young lads being given tablets to stay awake and no one is saying anything about it because drugs seem to have become a normal part of life for young people.

“We also have concerns about the number of contractors here in the midwest that have come on the scene suddenly, with a fleet of machinery that isn’t being financed and they’re undercutting the more established contractors.

“The difficulty most of us have getting finance with rising interest rates, it doesn’t make sense how these new firms are just able to do it. We believe it’s being financed by drug money and that by using it to set up contracting businesses, those involved are laundering the proceeds of crime.”

A second contractor in the west is also convinced that more and more young farmers are falling victim to drug gangs.

Mandatory drug testing

He believes mandatory drug testing should be introduced on farms, as the dangers associated with large machinery being driven by someone under the influence are too great.

“I’m a second-generation contractor and the crew I have are old enough to know better than to be dabbling in drugs,” he explains.

“But I did have a young lad with me a few years ago, who I trained up and who was excellent at his job. He went to England to take up a really good job but failed a drug test on his first day so has now gone from the industry completely.

“If I brought a drugs test into any sports club on any given evening, I could almost guarantee you two-thirds of the people in the room would walk out and that’s just the way things are unfortunately.

“But when it comes to working big machinery under the influence, something has to be done. You can’t hide drink but drugs are very hard to see and I’d be terrified someone would get hurt. I wouldn’t let anyone near my fleet if I thought they were into drugs. My own father lost a leg in a PTO shaft years ago so farm safety is paramount for me.”

Country-wide problem

This contractor also believes drug money is being used to set up contracting businesses that he says are ‘coming out of nowhere’.

“This is a problem all over the country, not just in my neck of the woods, where you have people arriving on the scene with equipment worth millions and no explanation for it,” he says.

“In the past, you could borrow €10,000 over five years and be paying €800 in repayments; that’s jumped to €1,200 now. Now you have places that set up with new machinery worth millions and no questions asked. These new fellas are undercutting established contractors which is bad enough but to think they’re doing it with drug money is galling. And this is coming from the horrors being inflicted on families and young people who are being wrecked by drugs. I’d say 80% of young people where I am are taking drugs, and that’s from the age of 14 upwards. But anyone who isn’t directly affected just isn’t interested.”

Teresa Roche of the IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Committee says more people are presenting to the IFA health checks with concerns around drug use.

“We are in the process of devising an awareness campaign around drug use on farms as we know it’s an issue affecting an awful lot of our members,” she says.

“We have extended the remit of our IFA Farmer Healthchecks Programme to include mental health as an additional strand and it’s through this that more and more people are admitting that they are taking drugs and it’s become a problem.

“We aren’t experts in this area so all we can do is direct them to the support services that are there, but the fact people are asking for help, particularly during the mental health assessment of our checks is a good thing.”