Crack cocaine in the Dublin region - Health Research Board

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• Although a number of dealers, or clients themselves, possessed the skills toprepare crack from cocaine powder, many users believed that dealers who wereprimarily of West African origin prepared higher-quality crack.• The price of crack is relatively stable and uniform. According to six users andsix drug-treatment services, prepared crack cocaine is being sold in €50 or €100quantities or ‘rocks’. A €50 rock would yield four smokes or pipes.• The average weekly amount spent on crack varied among users in the study from€200 in a week to €11,000 on a two-day binge.• During in-depth interviews, several crack users admitted that the price of crackcurtailed their use of it.• Dealers marketed crack using a number of methods, including selling ‘partypacks’ (where crack is sold in combination with other drugs), targeting drug usersoutside methadone clinics, and offering heroin users crack instead of heroin.• Crack houses were referred to as locations where crack could be used, and insome cases prepared in exchange for free crack. Crack houses were not reportedas major venues for crack dealing or as sites for sex work.• Five of the 10 former or current crack users interviewed reported using crackfor the first time in the UK or elsewhere in Europe. The increased availability ofcocaine in Ireland and the emergence of ready-made crack may have encouragedsome users to begin reusing crack cocaine when they returned to this country.Crack cocaine in the Dublin region: an evidence base for a crack cocaine strategy51
4 Profile of Dublin crack users4.0 OverviewThis section of the report considers international findings which have establishedprofiles of typical crack users (insofar as a ‘typical’ crack user exists). The profile ofcrack users in the Dublin region is presented in terms of gender, age, socio- economicbackground, education levels and accommodation status. This profile is based onNDTRS data, in-depth interviews and focus groups with crack users and serviceproviders, and published surveys.4.1 Introduction – crack users: ‘the marginalised among themarginalised’In the US, where problematic crack use is centred within deprived inner-cityneighbourhoods, users have been described as ‘the marginalised among themarginalised‘ (Fischer and Coghlan 2007: 1340). Problematic crack use in the UScontinues to be most prevalent among African-Americans and Hispanics (Bourgois2003b: 32). Similarly, European studies suggest that a large majority of crack usershave problematic drug histories and live in socially excluded and deprived communities(EMCDDA 2007a; Drugscope 2005). In the UK, analysis of treatment data has shown theprofile of London-based crack users to be slightly different from users of other Class Asubstances (GLADA 2004c). 18 Crack users were more likely to be younger than heroinusers and slightly more likely to be from ethnic minority backgrounds. Frequent userswere reported to be more likely to be residing in deprived areas.However, treatment data can provide profile information only on individuals who seektreatment. Such statistics may reflect only how well treatment services are meetingthe needs of different groups. Ethnographic research has documented the growingnumbers of older opiate users in London who have begun to use crack cocaine (GLADA2004b). The link between females, sex work and crack use has also been underlinedin research (May et al. 1999; Ward et al. 2000). May and colleagues interviewed 67 sexworkers in three different sites and nearly all had used crack cocaine in the monthbefore being interviewed. Furthermore, crack cocaine accounted for over two-thirds oftheir expenditure on drugs (May et al. 1999).18 The UK’s Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 divides controlled substances into three classes (A, B, C), with A beingthe most dangerous. These classes provide a basis for attributing penalties for offences. See http://eldd.emcdda.europa for further information on European drug laws.52 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 44 and 45: sold on the street for as little as
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 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
Page 95 and 96: Some services were in a position to
Page 97 and 98: Both opiate-dependent and non-opiat
Page 99 and 100: • more outreach work to identify
Page 101 and 102: 10 Policing crack markets10.0 Overv
Page 103 and 104:
local communities. There is growing
Page 105 and 106:
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
Page 123 and 124:
Loughran H and McCann ME (2006) A c
Page 125 and 126:
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
Page 131 and 132:
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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Crack cocaine in the Dublin region - Health Research Board

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