Trial reportCanadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique
Do crack smoking practices change with the introduction of safer crack kits?
Trial report in Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The utilization and delivery of safer smoking practices and services: a narrative synthesis of the literature.Harm reduction journal · 2023Pooled it
- Relational trust in outreach with women experiencing street-involvement in British Columbia, Canada: a qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- HIV prevention and crack harm reduction using projection mapping in Mexico City.Health education journal · 2024Article
- Not all screens are created equal: examination of surface features and other physical properties of commonly used screen materials for smoking drugs.Harm reduction journal · 2023Article
- 'Resurgent', 'twin' or 'silent' epidemic? A select data overview and observations on increasing psycho-stimulant use and harms in North America.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2021Article
- From opiates to methamphetamine: building new harm reduction responses in Jakarta, Indonesia.Harm reduction journal · 2019Article
- Education and equipment for people who smoke crack cocaine in Canada: progress and limits.Harm reduction journal · 2017Article
- Declining rates of health problems associated with crack smoking during the expansion of crack pipe distribution in Vancouver, Canada.BMC public health · 2017Article
- Peer-engagement and its role in reducing the risky behavior among crack and methamphetamine smokers of the Downtown Eastside community of Vancouver, Canada.Harm reduction journal · 2016Article
- "We need somewhere to smoke crack": An ethnographic study of an unsanctioned safer smoking room in Vancouver, Canada.The International journal on drug policy · 2015Article
- Transitions from injecting to non-injecting drug use: potential protection against HCV infection.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2014Article
- Aberrant disgust responses and immune reactivity in cocaine-dependent men.Biological psychiatry · 2014Article
- Reducing widespread pipe sharing and risky sex among crystal methamphetamine smokers in Toronto: do safer smoking kits have a potential role to play?Harm reduction journal · 2012Article
- Un Jalón, Un Volteón, y Otra Vez: High-Risk Crack Smoking Paraphernalia in México City.Journal of psychoactive drugsArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesCrack smoking has increased in Vancouver despite the harms associated with its use. Many people who smoke crack share their equipment, thereby increasing their risk for infectious disease. This project explored the effects of outreach distribution of "safer crack kits" on smoking practices.
methodsTwo cross-sectional surveys were conducted, the first prior to kit distribution and the second a year later. Participants were individuals who smoked crack and lived in Vancouver's inner city. Crack smoking practices and use of items in the crack kit were documented.
resultsThe results of the second survey (i.e., following 12 months of kit distribution) showed an increase in availability and use of safer use items; mouthpieces and condoms provided in the kit were used by 79% and 59% of recipients, respectively. Unsafe practices were reported post distribution: although 42% used brass screens, the majority reported that they usually used Brillo; over 40% of respondents reported using syringe plungers to scrape crack resin; and participants reported sharing crack-use paraphernalia.
conclusionWhile kit distribution made safer use items more accessible, its impact on safer use practice was limited. Our findings highlight the need for targeted distribution of safer use items. Future research should explore the dynamics of unsafe crack smoking practices and ways to leverage safer use messaging.
Indexed as
Identifiers
21714316PMC6973889What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.