Crack cocaine in the Dublin region - Health Research Board

Evidence from the in-depth interviews and focus groups and the NDTRS suggests thatthe majority of users smoke crack. The NDTRS confirms that 27 (77%) of new casesreported smoking crack cocaine and 3 (8.6%) reported using it intravenously (Table 5.4).Table 5.4Route of administration of crack cocaine reported by new cases in the month priorto treatment, 2004 to 2006Route of administration Number %Smoking 27 77.1Injecting 3 8.6Not known 5 14.3Total 35 100.0The most common equipment used for smoking crack included plastic bottles andcans pierced with makeshift tubes, such as the barrel of a plastic pen. Old inhalers,previously employed to treat respiratory problems such as asthma, may also be used tosmoke it.You get a plastic bottle, you put a little bit of tinfoil around the top, put little holes in the topof it, put a bit of ash on it, crack on the top of it and you stick the barrel of a pen in it andthat’s just, you know you set fire to the top, you just suck the smoke out of the bottle, becausethat’s all you need is the smoke … and they could use in any lane and do that, they don’tneed to be in a house, it only takes two minutes to do.north-east Dublin, current crack user (October 2007)Four services reported having clients who injected crack intravenously. Two servicesdid not know that it was possible to inject crack. Only one crack user in the studysample had injected it intravenously. However, former intravenous users of powdercocaine progressed to crack use because they could no longer use needles due to theabscesses they had developed. Therefore, intravenous injection of crack was not aviable route of administration for many users.5.7 Frequency of useEight of the 35 new cases reported to the NDTRS used crack cocaine on a dailybasis; an additional 5 cases used it between two and six times a week (Table 5.5). Asignificant minority of treated crack users had not used the drug in the month prior totheir treatment.64 Crack cocaine in the Dublin region: an evidence base for a crack cocaine strategy