SPECIAL REPORT

Crack cocaine crime plague

Police study reveals hookers' £300-a-day habit will spark huge rise in drug-related muggings and break-ins

Scotland is facing a crime plague sparked by a crack cocaine epidemic sweeping the underworld.
A secret police study uncovered vice girls spending £300 A DAY on the highly- addictive drug — the same as they used to pay for a week's worth of heroin.
Senior officers fear Scots could be hit by a “proportionate” epidemic of drug-related crime by a new army of users desperate to fund their habit.
The survey of 100 hookers in the east end of Glasgow showed every one of them was on drugs and half were hooked on crack.
The epidemic has led to a decrease in heroin use but drug experts regard its replacement as even more dangerous.

One police officer revealed: “To put it mildly, it's like going out of the frying pan and into the fire.” Crack has frequently been linked to extreme violence among dealers and users.
It is inevitable street crimes such as muggings and housebreaking will rise to pay for fixes.
The increase in crack use has boosted the numbers of young women turning to prostitution in Glasgow.
They now work longer hours and expose themselves to even more danger to feed their dangerous habit.
An underworld source said: “Crack is now everywhere, particularly in the east and north of Glasgow. Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen have also become swamped.
“The crack epidemic didn't just happen by accident — it's all to do with the gangs drying up heroin supplies and pushing crack.”
The Strathclyde Police survey follows warnings last week about the rise of cocaine use across the country.
A Scottish Drugs Forum conference on Thursday revealed users are taking the drug along with heroin.

Crack was used by about eight per cent of addicts in Scotland in 2004 compared with four per cent in 2000.
The hike adds to fears the drug is gaining a glamorous image.
Pop stars such as Babyshambles frontman Pete Doherty have openly talked about their crack use. Drugs experts and police say the shift towards crack is partly due to young people finally hearing the anti-heroin message. But the explosion in its use is also due to gangs being aware they can rake in massive profits from the product.
Many of the crooks hide behind property empires, private hire taxi firms, security firms, pubs, car washes and tanning salons.
One police source said: “Heroin has not disappeared but people should realise that crack is now here and it's here to stay.”
A copy of the secret study was obtained by the Sunday Mail under the new Freedom of Information Act.
It looked at the drug habits of hookers working the mainly daylight red-light zone in Glasgow's east end.
It also explains how the substances they are addicted to — mainly cocaine, heroin and methadone — are taken.

Police officers asked 100 girls to take part in the anonymous study over four weeks.
All of them admitted abusing either illicit or prescription drugs. More than seven in every 10 use heroin, with half smoking it and half injecting.
The study also found 53 per cent of prostitutes are hooked on crack.
Crack is made by soaking cocaine with an off-the-shelf ingredient, usually on a spoon. It is dried out and then crystallises into tiny “rocks” which can be smoked in a pipe.
Most Scottish dealers sell coke in £20 deals which is enough for a hit. In recent years, the price of cocaine — once considered the drug of rock stars, footballers and wealthy professionals — has tumbled.
The police survey stated: “The abuse of crack cocaine is on the increase and there has been a mirrored increase in the use of cocaine.
It is also significant to note the decrease in heroin abuse. Many saw their change from heroin to other drugs as a way of kicking heroin.

“More worrying was the sheer physical cost of the switch to cocaine and, in particular, crack cocaine.
“Many stated that, on a heroin addiction, they could spend from £250 to £300 per week — this has escalated to £250 to £300 per day.
“If this trend spills out from the sex industry to other drug abusers — as it has in other cities — the effects this will have on crime will be proportionate.”
A Scottish Executive study released three years ago warned Scotland was on the brink of a crack epidemic. Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency boss Jim Orr reckoned the use of the drug had risen 250 per cent in five years.

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