Crack cocaine in the Dublin region - Health Research Board

8.3 Psychological consequences of crack useAs with assessing the physical consequence of crack use, there are no routine datasources that collect information on the mental health consequences of crack cocaineuse. Therefore, data in this area are limited to once-off studies. As mentioned above,in March 2004 CityWide published the results of its survey on the extent to which27 community-based drug projects were dealing with the problems of cocaine use(CityWide 2004). Twenty-two per cent of projects reported an increase in mental healthproblems, including depression, anxiety, stress, psychotic episodes and attemptedsuicide; this supports the findings of the in-depth interviews.Drug-treatment and social services with experience of crack users did not perceive alarge difference between the induced effects of powder cocaine compared with crackcocaine-induced effects. Seventeen services reported psychological ill effects fromcrack cocaine, including increased aggressive behaviour towards family members,friends and strangers and service providers:Also anxiety, like from anxiety, increased paranoia, increased atmosphere in the centre ifthese clients who have used crack start coming in. Now the same with coke actually. We’renot really going to decipher between the two because we’re seeing the same symptoms fromboth from injecting cocaine as smoking crack. The increased paranoia, the increased anxiety.Just a bad tension within the centre and within the drop-in.Clondalkin, drug-treatment service (October 2007)Mental health problems mostly, you know that would be the main thing … paranoia,aggression you know just the normal run-of-the-mill stuff, except it would be a bit different,it would be more pronounced in people that are using crack especially after bingeing.Finglas, drug-treatment service (October 2007)Eleven drug-treatment services referred to symptoms of paranoia exhibited by clientsafter heavy use of crack cocaine:We would have seen a lot of psychological effects on people’s mental health. You know thathas just really deteriorated. You know there is one guy would come in here totally paranoid,you know he will kind of look around the room and say ‘You know are those sockets bugged?Because I am sure last week when I was in here I could hear people talking.’ You know stufflike that. Another guy would come in and he would cry a lot. He was a total wreck. You knowand he would say ‘I know they are all talking about me out there I know they know I am inhere’.Crumlin, drug-treatment services (October 2007)Crack cocaine in the Dublin region: an evidence base for a crack cocaine strategy89