This report contains an update of information published in the Multi-city Study of Drug Misuse' in 1987 for the Greater Dublin area. The report begins with a description of the demographic features of Dublin, the history of drug misuse the legal and control systems, the treatment facilities for drug users and the components of a drugs monitoring system. These descriptive sections are crucial if the relevance of drug use indicators are to be put in context. The various indicators currently used in Dublin are discussed with emphasis on their strength and weakness. Overall the picture is optimistic for this approach as over the years many of the indicators used have become more refined and trends over time seen as more meaningful, particularly when combined set of indicators point to a similar trend in drug misuse. Work remains to be done in improving procedures, developing new indicators and surveying the general population. An encouraging development is the proposed establishment of a national drug misuse database