Pubdate: Thu, 22 Jul 2010
Source: Simon Fraser News (CN BC, Edu)
Copyright: 2010 Simon Fraser University
Contact:  http://www.sfu.ca/sfunews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1040
Author: Julie Ovenell-Carter

RURAL CRACK USE NO. 1 STREET-DRUG PROBLEM: STUDY

As crack cocaine use rises in Canada, so too does the urgent need for 
targeted prevention and treatment programs-especially in smaller communities.

That's the conclusion of a new study led by health sciences 
researcher Benedikt Fischer and published in the journal Drugs: 
Education, Prevention and Policy.

Fischer's team documents a recent investigation of the social, health 
and drug-use characteristics of 148 primary crack users in three 
mid-sized B.C. communities: Nanaimo, Campbell River and Prince George.

Past studies have confirmed that crack users in larger urban settings 
are more likely than other drug users to face health problems such as 
HIV, Hepatitis C virus (HCV), sexually transmitted diseases, and 
mental illness. They're also prone to extreme poverty, homelessness 
and illegal income generation.

Fischer's study focused on crack users in non-urban communities to 
determine their unique characteristics and how best to target and 
deliver prevention and treatment programs in rural settings.

It found that non-urban crack users:

- - Were at a "crucially elevated risk" of health problems due to 
unstable housing, illegal incomes and frequent encounters with the 
criminal justice system.

- - Displayed a "high prevalence" of concurrent physical and mental 
health problems.

- - Used a variety of other legal and illegal psychoactive substances 
including alcohol, cocaine and opioids.

- - Exhibited HIV and HCV rates similar to those observed in primary 
injection-drug users.

The study calls for "the comprehensive improvement of preventive and 
treatment intervention services," to address rural crack use, specifically:

- - Improved resources and training for health workers.

- - Improved accessibility to infectious-disease testing in the study locations.

- - "Crack kit" distribution programs including prevention and 
healthcare information.

- - Safer crack-inhalation facilities, akin to European facilities.

- - More treatment options and research

"In many B.C. communities, crack use is the No. 1 street-drug 
problem, yet we give it much lower attention than other forms of drug 
use," says Fischer.

"We need better and more targeted prevention and treatment. to reduce 
its enormous negative public health impact."
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart