NCJ Number
200772
Journal
Journal of Drug Issues Volume: 32 Issue: 2 Dated: Spring 2002 Pages: 413-422
Date Published
2002
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This article profiles the use of crack cocaine in Germany.
Abstract
The explosion in the usage of crack cocaine in the United States, Europe, and Germany in the mid 1980’s, the author explains that increases in both the consumption and the trafficking rates of crack cocaine are responsible for the increase in cocaine usage rates in both Hamburg and Frankfurt, Germany. Arguing that crack cocaine is part of the polydrug pattern in these cities as well as in Hanover, Germany, the author connects the decrease in the use of intravenous drugs and the increase in the use of smokeable crack cocaine as related to decreases in the availability of sterile syringes throughout Germany. The author contends that crack cocaine use and trafficking is largely limited to both Hamburg and Frankfurt, Germany because of these cities’ harbors, airports, and visible drug scenes, as well as cocaine’s highly developed supply structure and the economical advantages to selling this drug. After arguing that it is likely that crack cocaine will continue to appeal mainly to German youths, the author discusses low threshold services for drug users in Frankfurt and Hamburg before arguing that German drug treatment services are adapting to the rapid spread of cocaine in these cities. References