Crack cocaine in the Dublin region - Health Research Board

11 Discussion and research implications11.0 OverviewThe purpose of this report is to help the ISCCSG and other decision makers andstakeholders to develop an evidence-based crack cocaine strategy. This sectionconsiders some of the issues arising from the research which a new strategy couldaddress.11.1 Improving the evidence base relating to crack cocaine –monitoring and further researchIt is clear that the precise extent of the crack cocaine problem is not known currently.While accurately reporting a hidden activity (which is part of an illicit activity) isalways going to be difficult if not impossible, there are a number of inadequacies inour current data-collection and reporting systems that could be improved upon. Thisresearch has emphasised the general importance of continuously monitoring drugtrends.A drug-trend monitoring system could be of major benefit in terms of providingaccurate data on trends in drug use and the consequences of these trends. A multisourceinformation system could draw on information from both new systems andexisting systems such as the National Drug Treatment Reporting System, the NationalDrug Related Deaths Index (NDRDI), the Garda Síochána information technologysystem Police Using Leading Systems Effectively (PULSE), the Central Statistics Office(CSO), the General Mortality Register (GMR), and the Hospital In-patient data system(HIPE). The new system would feature a method of recording drug seizures by bothCustoms Drug Law Enforcement and An Garda Síochána, data on the type and purityof substances tested by the Forensic Science Laboratory and data on drug prices.In addition, it would include a harm-reduction information system which wouldrecord data on the emergence of new drugs, new ways of using existing drugs, there-emergence of old drugs, and the incidence of and consequences of drug and alcoholuse-related attendances at hospital accident and emergency departments.It is clear from the study that existing data systems could be improved upon in orderto provide a more accurate picture of the extent of crack cocaine use and serviceproviders’ responses to its use. Specific issues highlighted in this study include:• Service providers could ask cocaine users to specify the type of cocaine used andhow they use it, so that clients’ care plans can address the issue of crack use andso that the NDTRS can obtain a more complete record of cocaine use in Ireland.110 Crack cocaine in the Dublin region: an evidence base for a crack cocaine strategy