Crack cocaine use in Limerick has grown significantly over the last year, and a local addiction treatment centre is now distributing “crack pipes” in a bid to stop addicts using unhygienic tools. The warning came in the wake of the publication of a national report that showed that more people are now seeking help for cocaine addiction than cannabis. The dramatic increase in the sale and use of cocaine and crack cocaine is partly down to the considerable success that the Garda has had in the last year in seizing supplies of cannabis. Mr Duffin said addict experts, gardaí and local politicians feared that “some people will buy crack cocaine and heroin together, and they’ll use that as what is known as a ‘speedball’ – and they’ll inject that”. AddictionMs McKenna said people who used cocaine at the weekend – they often refuse to accept that they have an addiction – were now also becoming addicted to benzodiazepines.

Source: The Irish Times July 09, 2020 18:33 UTC