Following a request from the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs to put forward proposals in relation to tackling the growing problem of cocaine misuse in Ireland, the National Drug Strategy Team established a Cocaine Sub-Group to recommend pilot interventions aimed at particular types of cocaine users.

One of the treatment projects recommended by the sub-group involved evaluating three inter-disciplinary evidence-based interventions to working with cocaine users. The project was to be piloted by the South Western Area Health Board (SWAHB) at Castle Street Clinic. The three proposed interventions included:
• Group drug counselling with a contingency management component comprising 12 weekly sessions;
• Individual drug counselling combined with group drug counselling with a contingency management module; and
• Cognitive behavioural therapy and group drug counselling with a contingency management component.

The SWAHB project was based on research findings from the NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse) in the United States. The NIDA’s research recommended an eclectic Group Drug Counselling (GDC) and also a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) approach to working with cocaine drug users.

The project’s target group comprised poly drug users attending the Castle Street Clinic who were using cocaine and who were also in receipt of methadone maintenance.