Mr. Shane Hamilton:

I thank the Deputy and Ms Hill. Crack cocaine is just another form of cocaine. It is treated in a way that allows it to be smoked instead of snorted or nasally ingested. It is an extremely additive substance. It costs between €10 and €20 for a rock, which is then put into a pipe and smoked. People are using insurmountable amounts of it in the course of a day. It is an extremely addictive high, an extreme high, as it is a stimulant, and there is quite an intense comedown thereafter, which means people want to use it over and over again. That is why it is having such a damaging impact on the community.

As I alluded to earlier, another problem with crack cocaine is that it has become a cottage industry. It is being produced within homes, distributed by young people, sold outside shops and transported up and down outside our drug services every day by young people on scooters. It has become an industry within the area that is targeting the most vulnerable people. The data will show that people who start using crack cocaine are usually from already vulnerable cohorts and demographics. It is people who are already vulnerable within our society who start using the drug. They are building up massive debts by using the drug daily. They are unable to engage with their healthcare and social care providers, or with any other support systems with which they would previously have been engaging. Without being too sensational, crack is a game-changer when it comes to responding to the issue through a drugs strategy.