Crack Cocaine use in Hamburg's Open Drug Scene

Abstract

As consumption of crack cocaine has increased in Germany during recent years, the media have condemned it as a “demon drug,” claiming that it causes instantaneous addiction and violence. Although the issue is not comparable to the crack scare that occurred in the United States during the late 1980s, it is now being politicized in a similar manner. Because there is little known about crack use in Germany, the author initiated a small field study in Hamburg investigating the appearance of crack and the use patterns that developed in the open drug scene there. A convenience sample of 64 crack smokers provided responses to a questionnaire about their use of the drug. A number of significant differences were noted among users, variations that are mainly reflected in different methods of use and settings where the drug is consumed. The common assertion that crack cocaine causes violence was not substantiated here, although crack users are nevertheless often blamed for a variety of social, political, and economic problems in German society.