Experience of Crack Use: Findings from a Community Based Sample in Toronto

Abstract

This paper presents Canadian data on crack use collected from a community-based study of seventy-nine crack users in Toronto, and compares these findings with popular images of crack and its users. Crack was portrayed in the media and police reports as extremely dangerous because of the quick and intense high from smoking it and its powerful addictive property. Data from the study show that, while the quick and intense high was what crack users liked most, adverse physical, psychological and financial consequences of crack addiction have also cautioned users. The overall frequencies of use in the past month, past year, and lifetime were quite low, suggesting that crack use is not necessarily compulsive. The major factor affecting level of use was perceived risk of harm. Crack users were likely to be powder cocaine users as well, and they did not differ significantly from powder users with respect to sociodemographic characteristics. Treatment and prevention implications of the findings are discussed.