ABSTRACT
This book has examined crack users’ addictions and the realities of their lives. Ethnographic methods were used over nine months in 2004/05 with these people in south London. While there has been other ethnographic research with crack users in the UK (Parker et al., 1998), this is the first ethnographic study of its kind that has attempted to describe how crack careers evolve and the socio-structural context of crack-using practices; the interactions among crack users in crack houses and across the crack scene; and how they interplay with socio-structural processes. Therefore the study provides new insights into the nature of crack use in the UK. This penultimate chapter of the book is devoted to discussion of the findings in the context of existing literature and the theoretical framework. Recommendations for policy and practice also follow.
