Magdalena Harris, Jenny Scott, Vivian Hope, Joanna Busza, Sedona Sweeney, Andrew Preston, Mat Southwell, Niamh Eastwood, Cedomir Vuckovic, Caitlynne McGaff, Ian Yoon, Louise Wilkins, Shoba Ram, Catherine Lord, Philippe Bonnet, Peter Furlong, Natasha Simpson, Holly Slater, Lucy Platt
BACKGROUND: Over 180,000 people use crack cocaine in England, yet provision of smoking equipment to support safer crack use is prohibited under UK law. Pipes used for crack cocaine smoking are often homemade and/or in short supply, leading to pipe sharing and injuries from use of unsafe materials. This increases risk of viral infection and respiratory harm among a marginalised underserved population. International evaluations suggest crack pipe supply leads to sustained reductions in pipe sharing and use of homemade equipment; increased health risk awareness; improved service access; reduction in injecting and crack-related health problems...
January 23, 2024: Harm Reduction Journal