Crack cocaine in the Dublin region - Health Research Board

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sold on the street for as little as £5–£10 (UK Focal Point on Drugs 2007; Goodchild2005). In the US, a rock of crack cocaine can be sold for as little as $5, making it muchmore financially accessible to larger segments of the population (Sterk 1999).3.2 The organisational structure of the Dublin crack marketCrack dealing in the north-inner cityAccording to the GNDU, information gained during Operation Plaza indicated thatthe Dublin crack market was confined to small areas in the north-inner city andwest Dublin. Gardaí identified approximately 17 individuals dealing in crack atthat time, twelve of these individuals were of West African origin (GNDU, personalcommunication, 19 May 2006). The GNDU provided the following data for the purposesof this study:In the North Central Division between January 2005 and December 2007 there were:• 23 seizures of crack cocaine;• 23 subsequent crack-related arrests;• 11 convictions secured in relation to these arrests, with five individualsawaiting sentence; a bench warrant has been issued in three cases for nonappearancein court.(GNDU, personal communication, 15 January 2008)The present research confirmed the availability of prepared crack in a popular northinnercity shopping district. Of the 24 services that had treated clients for crack use, 10confirmed this city-centre location as one where their clients bought the drug, and 5 ofthe 10 crack users interviewed also identified this area as one of the locations wherethey purchased crack. Users generally bought the cocaine already prepared ratherthan preparing it themselves. Although they possessed the skills to prepare crack fromcocaine powder, many believed that their dealers, who were primarily of West Africanorigin, prepared higher-quality crack:Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s loads of people selling cocaine around the area and that’swhere they get their freebase from, but they buy their crack cocaine, and I’m not being racistor anything but it’s mostly the black 15 men in town in P… Street and all, that’s where they’redoing it from, that’s where mostly the crack is coming from … and the people down in B…and all them areas.north-east Dublin, former crack user (October 2007)15 According to the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI) ‘some peopleuse the word Black to mean ‘of African origin’; whereas others mean ‘non-white’ and would includepeople from Asia for example. Black is not generally considered to be a derogatory term and in Ireland,the term ‘Black and minority ethnic group(s)’ is often used. See www.nccri.ie/pdf/govterminology.pdfCrack cocaine in the Dublin region: an evidence base for a crack cocaine strategy43
It’s rampant out there. It’s everywhere now. When I’m going shopping down M… Street. Likeevery second person you know they are selling it. It’s mostly all the foreign nationals 16 ...north-inner city, current crack user (October 2007)One user described the crack market as involving up to 15 dealers, and reported thatin a particular shopping centre district there were only 6 main dealers that most crackusers would seek to purchase from; within this group of 6, one dealer was described as‘Rock One’ and was regarded as having the highest-quality crack:These are the main 6, like say there is 15 of them, 6 are the main ones but just say, Rock Oneis the best. Then Rock Three. And then if Rock One wasn’t on I would go to Rock Three, doyou know what I mean? But there are 6 main dealers...north-inner city, current crack user (October 2007)Crack dealing throughout the Dublin regionWhile the north city centre area was mentioned as the primary market supplyingprepared crack cocaine, the findings of this study suggests that prepared crack cocaineis now available outside the north-inner city area. Six users in the study claimed thatthis was the case. Crack users also expressed the view that the availability of crackoutside the city centre was a recent phenomenon – one that had emerged from 2006onwards. Areas mentioned included Clondalkin, Balbriggan, Ballymun, Coolock andBlanchardstown. In addition, five drug-treatment services confirmed the availability ofcrack in the Crumlin, Clondalkin, Malahide Road, Balbriggan and Ballymun areas.Although Garda reports of seizures and arrests were limited to those in the north-innercity, interviews with drug-treatment services personnel also suggest that seizures andarrests have been made outside that area – in Tallaght and Ballymun for example.In the case of Ballymun, drug services reported a perception that these seizures hadnot been publicised by the gardaí so as to avoid advertising the area as one whereprepared crack could be bought.3.3 Avoiding detection: dealer risk-management strategiesDrug dealers will generally employ a variety of risk-management strategies to avoidbeing detected by the police. These strategies may include dealing only to peoplethey are familiar with. In response to increased attention and surveillance by gardaí,dealers may take extra precautions, such as directing buyers to different locations inthe area to make an exchange. With regard to the inner-city market, a number of usersdescribed the scenario of an open crack market where they would often be approachedin public by individuals selling crack who were invariably described as non-Irishnationals:16 For a discussion as to the use of this term ‘foreign national’ see www.nccri.ie/pdf/govterminology.pdf44 Crack cocaine in the Dublin region: an evidence base for a crack cocaine strategy
Page 1 and 2: HRB Research Series6Crack cocaine i
Page 3 and 4: This publication should be cited as
Page 5 and 6: HRB Research Series publicationsto
Page 8 and 9: ContentsList of tables and figures
Page 10 and 11: 7 Social consequences of crack use
Page 12 and 13: List of tables and figuresTablesTab
Page 14 and 15: AbbreviationsADRUGNDUHRBISCCSGLDTFN
Page 16 and 17: Glossary of termsBenzos: The street
Page 18 and 19: Executive summaryBackground and stu
Page 20 and 21: phone and buyers are directed to sp
Page 22 and 23: Part 1IntroductionCrack cocaine in
Page 24 and 25: In the light of these concerns, it
Page 26 and 27: extensive reporting in the US about
Page 28 and 29: Ten interviews were conducted with
Page 30 and 31: also offers potential to trace supp
Page 32 and 33: Part 2Crack cocaine in the Dublin r
Page 34 and 35: 2.2 Criminal justice data - cocaine
Page 36 and 37: Prevalence of crack use among homel
Page 38 and 39: Local survey dataA survey in 2006 o
Page 40 and 41: Respondent 1: I’d say it’s stil
Page 42 and 43: 3 Dublin crack cocaine market3.0 Ov
Page 46 and 47: Like, I was down on M… Street in
Page 48 and 49: 3.4 Marketing crackFour interviewee
Page 50 and 51: While crack was generally bought al
Page 52 and 53: • Although a number of dealers, o
Page 54 and 55: 4.2 Crack use and genderAccording t
Page 56 and 57: From about 16 to 21 I would say - t
Page 58 and 59: Table 4.4Number of new cases who li
Page 60 and 61: 5.2 Crack and other drugsMany of th
Page 62 and 63: Whether treated cases reported crac
Page 64 and 65: cases of intravenous cocaine use, t
Page 66 and 67: Table 5.5Number (%) of new cases wh
Page 68 and 69: Part 3Consequences of crack useCrac
Page 70 and 71: etween heroin, cocaine and crime. T
Page 72 and 73: So, they would talk about the kind
Page 74 and 75: Crack and prostitutionNine services
Page 76 and 77: On the other hand, reports from two
Page 78 and 79: often with a prevalence of opiate d
Page 80 and 81: The data provided by the NDTRS in S
Page 82 and 83: But you know it would be about kind
Page 84 and 85: So, debt is another significant iss
Page 86 and 87: 7.6 Key findings• A significant p
Page 88 and 89: There are considerable long-term ps
Page 90: 8.3 Psychological consequences of c
Page 93 and 94: 9 Treating crack use9.0 OverviewIn
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Some services were in a position to
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Both opiate-dependent and non-opiat
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• more outreach work to identify
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10 Policing crack markets10.0 Overv
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local communities. There is growing
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He’d know me, I’d know him, you
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Table 10.1 Number of new cases who
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108 Crack cocaine in the Dublin reg
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11 Discussion and research implicat
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11.2 Responding to crack markets an
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11.3 Reducing the harm that crack c
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Shoplifting, burglary and robbery w
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Bourgois P (2003b) Crack and the po
Page 121 and 122:
Furey M and Browne C (2004) Opiate
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Loughran H and McCann ME (2006) A c
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San Diego Police Department (1998)
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Appendix A:An evidence base for tre
Page 129 and 130:
note that providing information on
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MedicationsA number of studies have
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interpersonal psychotherapy. Americ
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Jurisdiction Intervention/Descripti
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Jurisdiction Intervention/Descripti
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Appendix C:Recent HRB series public
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140 Crack cocaine in the Dublin reg
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