There are fears children as young as 14 are getting access to drugs through social media.
A new investigation has found dozens of accounts advertising the sale of drugs like cocaine and cannabis.
Within 10 minutes of setting up an Instagram and Snapchat account, close to 50 accounts advertising the sale of drugs were discovered.
Some have thousands of followers and post menus of what they have available that day.
Many dealers offer a pick up or delivery service - raising concerns about how easy it is for young people to access drugs.
Access
Brendan Cummins, a youth worker Familibase youth project in Ballyfermot in Dublin, says it’s very easy to get drugs on social media: "The days of meeting someone on a corner, or someone having a spot they sell drugs from, is long gone… from the 90s, nearly.
"Access is very easy, especially for young people."
The EU's Drugs Agency is warning social media is playing a bigger part in how people get their drugs during the pandemic.
Crackdown
Many of those running these accounts use slang terms and emojis to avoid detection - something the social media companies are trying to crack down on.
Instagram says it's working with Gardai to tackle the sale of drugs on its platform - and has taken down over a million related posts.
While Snapchat told us it's further investing in ways to improve their response to this kind of activity.
Both companies insist buying or selling drugs isn't allowed on their platforms.
Reporting by Stephen Murphy
