DEATH TOLL SOARS AS DRUG WAVE SWEEPS COUNTRY

DEATHS from drug abuse are rocketing in Ireland with heroin still the
main killer, despite the popularity of cocaine.

Soaring death rates are outstripping the horrors of the 1980s when
heroin gripped Dublin.

Almost 630 people have died from drugs in the six years since 2000,
compared with 542 in the previous 20 years.

Officials fear warnings about the dangers of drugs are not hitting
home.

Model Katy French's death, which has been linked to cocaine, came
shortly after she publicly denounced the drug.

Over the weekend a 23-year-old man from Waterford died after partying
with friends -- just three weeks after drugs claimed two lives in the
city.

Toxicology tests are taking place on his body to test whether this
latest death was drugs related.

And there have been a succession of large drugs busts over the
weekend, with =8070,000 worth of cocaine seized at Dublin Airport on
Saturday night. Large quantities of cannabis and ecstasy were seized
in Cork and =803m worth of heroin was seized in Co Louth on Friday.

Figures compiled by the Irish Independent show that most drugs-related
deaths in Ireland -- a total of 302 -- have been due to heroin or
derivatives of the drug, including opium, methadone or morphine.

But deaths from cocaine are also rising -- just four dead from the
drug between 1980 and 2000 compared to 46 in the past six years, most
of which have occurred since 2004.

The dangers of cocaine have been spelled out in recent weeks with the
death of two young men in Waterford, who ate the drug at a house party.

John Grey (23) died nearly a fortnight after swallowing drugs during a
party at his home. Kevin Doyle, a 21-year-old electronics student from
Viewmount, near the city, also died.

Katy French was buried last week and her death has also been linked to
cocaine. Medical tests found traces of cocaine in the model's system
as autopsy results revealed she died of brain damage.

Deaths recorded in Ireland affect all social classes and ages,
although more men than women are killed by drugs. Most of the deaths
occur in Dublin, Leinster and Munster.

But the true figure could be far higher.

Experts say there is "under-reporting" of drug deaths, and that
doctors sometimes record the cause of death as a heart attack or liver
failure -- often associated with cocaine deaths -- rather than an
overdose for sensitivity reasons.

Tony Geoghegan, of the Merchant's Quay project, which provides help to
the capital's addicts, said the number of deaths was a "gross
misrepresentation" of the true figure because of a lack of proper
recording mechanisms.

Last night, a 36-year-old Italian woman was being questioned by gardai
after she was found to be carrying =8070,000 worth of cocaine in Dublin
Airport. The woman had arrived on a flight from Amsterdam.