Posted on 06/24/2002 5:23:46 AM PDT by kattracks
June 24— By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - Drugs Minister Bob Ainsworth urged communities across Britain Monday to cooperate with police to tame the spiraling problem of crack cocaine use.
Speaking at a national conference on how to address the serious social and health problems created by the drug, Ainsworth said crack was now as great a threat as heroin.
"All communities are at risk from crack cocaine and the associated problems of crime, violence and decline," he said.
"I would like to see more projects ... addressing the particular community problems posed by crack cocaine."
He said that while the provision of treatment for heroin addicts was now relatively well established across Britain, there was still very little known and very little being done about treating crack cocaine abusers.
Police, politicians and drugs charity workers convened for a two-day conference in Birmingham Monday to discuss how to help communities fight the problems related to crack -- addiction, theft, random violence and organized crime.
Ainsworth, who opened the conference, said the areas worst affected were those where there were large numbers of young people, black people and poor people.
He also said a large proportion of gun crime committed by black gangs on other black gangs arises out of widespread use and dealing of crack cocaine.
"Whilst usage of almost every other illegal drug is lower in black communities than in white communities, the use of crack cocaine is greater in black communities," he told the conference.
"This means that some areas are more at risk of suffering the potentially devastating impact that crack cocaine can have upon individuals, families and whole communities."
Latest figures suggest that the use of crack cocaine is on the rise, particularly among 16 to 24-year-olds and in black communities.
According to the Home Office's "drug misuse declared" figures for 2000, two percent of all respondents from black groups reported lifetime use of crack, compared to only one percent lifetime use among white respondents.
Crack -- a form of cocaine which has been "cooked" into crystal-like rocks which can be smoked -- is also falling in price, making it more freely available to poorer communities.
Like cocaine and heroin, it is a Class A drug because it is highly addictive.
Alan Brown, from London's Metropolitan Police force, told the conference that tackling crack abuse and the violence linked with it was one of the force's biggest challenges. "It is only by working together that we will be able to reject the intimidation and violence to secure a safer society," he said.
Copyright 2002 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.