Crack Cocaine Use in Barcelona: A Reason of Worry

Abstract

In Spain, crack cocaine use is silently increasing. In Barcelona, an intentional sample was selected to describe the general characteristics of this consumption. Participants were submitted to an interview and data were analyzed through qualitative research procedures. Users are young males and of low socioeconomic status and formal education. The major pattern of use is compulsive. Illegal income activities are the choice for crack cocaine or money acquisition, increasing individual and social health costs. Polydrug use is a matter of concern. Although these findings can not be generalized, they should be considered for the development of public policies to adequately address crack cocaine users’ needs.

SOMMAIRE

La consommation de la cocaïne-crack à Barcelone: Un sujet de préoccupation/

Titre courant: Consommation du Crack à Barcelona

En Espagne, l’usage de la cocaïne-crack augmente silencieusement. À Barcelone, un échantillon intentionnel a été sélectionné pour décrire les caractéristiques générales de cette consommation. Les participants ont été soumis à une entrevue et les données analysées par le biais de procédures de recherche qualitative. Les utilisateurs sont des jeunes gens appartenant à une catégorie socioéconomique inférieure et à l’éducation formelle. Le mode d’emploi principal est compulsif. Les activités de revenu Illégal sont l’option pour l’acquisition d’argent ou de cocaïne-crack, augmentant les coûts de la santé publique et individuelle. L’usage de stupéfiants multiples est un sujet de préoccupation. Bien que ces conclusions ne peuvent pas être généralisées, elles devraient être prises en considération pour que le développement des politiques publiques aborde adéquatement les besoins des utilisateurs de la cocaïne-crack.

Mots clefs: drogues illicites; cocaïne; crack; recherche qualitative; ethnographie; technique de boule de neige

RESUMEN

Título: Uso de cocaína“crack” en Barcelona: un motivo de preocupación

Titulillo: Uso de crack en Barcelona

El uso de cocaína“crack” está aumentando silenciosamente en España. En Barcelona, se eligió una muestra intencional para describir las características generales de este consumo. Se sometió a los participantes a una entrevista y los datos fueron analizados por procedimientos de investigación cualitativa. Los usuarios eran hombres jóvenes, de bajo nivel socioeconómico y escasa escolaridad. El principal modo de uso es el compulsivo. Actividades ilegales son el medio habitual para conseguir crack o dinero, lo que aumenta los costos para el individuo y la salud social. El uso de polidroga preocupa. Aunque no se pueda generalizar estas conclusiones, habría que tenerlas en cuenta para desarrollar políticas públicas que traten de manera adecuada las necesidades de los usuarios de cocaína“crack”.

Palabras llave

drogas de la calle; cocaína; crack; investigación cualitativa; etnografía; técnica de bola de nieve

Keywords :

• street drugs
• cocaine
• crack
• qualitative research
• ethnography
• snowball technique

THE AUTHORS

Lucio Garcia de Oliveira, M.S., Ph.D., has graduated at Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), Brazil. Nowadays, he has been involved in a national survey about alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs consumption among undergraduate students. Also, he has been conducting studies on crack cocaine user behavior, crack cocaine consumption effects on cognition and polydrug use among crack cocaine users and undergraduate students.

Julio de Carvalho Ponce has a degree in Molecular Sciences from the University of São Paulo (USP), is currently pursuing a master's degree from the Department of Legal Medicine at the Medicine School of the University of São Paulo (USP), and is a junior researcher at the Center for Information on Health and Alcohol (CISA).

Solange Aparecida Nappo is a Master of Sciences in Public Health and a Doctor of Sciences in Psychopharmacology. Now, she is a Senior Researcher at the Brazilian Center for Information on Psychotropic Substances (CEBRID) and an Associate Professor at the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), Diadema campus. She has been coordinating a qualitative research project to understand drug user behavior and individual strategies to reduce harm associated with drug abuse.

INTERVIEW SCRIPT

A. SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC DATA

1. Gender

2. Age

3. Civil Status

4. Nationality

5. Educational Status

6. Job

B.  HISTORY OF DRUG CONSUMPTION

1. First drug used in lifetime (alcohol and tobacco products included).

2. Progression in drug use.

3. Cocaine: Routes of use. (This topic aimed to investigate the main route for cocaine use and the reasons for such choice. If other routes for cocaine use were reported, other than smoked one, the researcher tried to identify what happened to them after the smoked cocaine—crack cocaine—was used on a regular basis).

C.  PREPARATION AND CONSUMPTION OF CRACK COCAINE

1. Ways to prepare and use crack cocaine (and underlying reasons).

2. Frequency and quantity (per session) of crack cocaine use. (This topic aimed to identify the pattern of use for crack cocaine and its typology, also characterizing changes in pattern of use along time).

3. Crack cocaine positive (pleasurable) and negative (damaging) effects.

D. ASSOCIATION OF SMOKED COCAINE TO OTHER DRUGS

1. Polydrug use. (This topic tried to identify if the subject was a polydrug user or not).

2. Drugs to which crack cocaine was concurrently or simultaneously associated and their underlying reasons.

3. Verify if crack cocaine replaced the use of other drugs.

E.  ACCESSIBILITY AND DISTRIBUTION OF SMOKED COCAINE

1. Verify if there is crack cocaine trafficking in Barcelona. (This topic aimed to identify ways to trade crack cocaine (and their prices), comparing them to powder cocaine use.

F. PERSONAL PERCEPTION OF CRACK COCAINE USE

Notes

1 Hills's criteria for causation were developed in order to help researchers and clinicians determine if risk factors were“causes” of a particular disease or“outcomes” or “merely associated”. (Hill, 1965).