Crack cocaine addiction surges

Data from national substance abuse agencies and rehabilitation services shows crack cocaine use has risen sharply in recent years.

OASI Foundation, which runs rehabilitation programmes for drug addicts, has shared figures with Times of Malta showing that the number of people receiving therapy for crack cocaine shot up between 2023 and 2024.

In 2023, out of the 233 people who received therapy from the foundation, 19% of clients were dealing with a primarily crack cocaine addiction. This placed it behind alcohol at 30% and cocaine at 20%.

In 2024, the chart shifted. Of the 217 people who received therapy, 35% were primarily addicted to crack.

This significant increase, matching cocaine powder, made both substances the most commonly reported primary addictions last year.

Statistics shared by substance abuse national agency Sedqa tell a similar story.

According to its 2024 statistics, 97 people reported crack cocaine as their primary drug, which made it the second most common primary substance, behind alcohol which had 157 cases.

Cocaine powder was the third most common drug, with 73 cases.

This figure marks a significant jump from 2020, when Sedqa recorded 57 people reporting crack cocaine as their primary drug.

Higher supply of crack cocaine than heroin

OASI CEO Noel Xerri attributed this jump to the fact that, worldwide, the supply of the coca plant has increased, while the growing of the poppy plant – used to make heroin – has decreased.

Linked to this, data shared by the University’s Forensic Analysis Laboratory, which analyses drugs seized by the police, reported a 90% decrease in the amount of heroin analysed in 2024 compared to 2023.

The lab noted how these heroin shortages have been recorded all over Europe and it might have to do with the Taliban’s ban on opium production in Afghanistan in 2022.

We must be careful not to label certain groups of society as only taking this drug

“In a way, crack cocaine is replacing heroin, but we must be careful not to label certain groups of society as only taking this drug,” Xerri said.

In his experience, crack cocaine users do not only come from lower socio-economic background but from all walks of life.

What is crack cocaine?

Both cocaine powder and crack cocaine are derived from the dried leaves of the coca plant. The main difference lies in their form and method of use: cocaine comes in a fine powder form and is typically snorted, while crack appears as small rocks that are heated and smoked.

Crack is usually smoked using a pipe or bong, allowing the user to inhale the vapour released by the heated rock.

Xerri explained that while powdered cocaine is already highly addictive, crack cocaine is even more so.

“If the high from cocaine powder is at level 10, the high from crack is at level 1,000. But this also means that when the drug wears off, the crash is far worse. While people will drop to level -10 after cocaine powder, they will drop to level -1,000 after crack cocaine,” Xerri said.

A key difference is the speed and intensity of the effects. While it takes a few minutes for powdered cocaine to kick in, crack produces an almost immediate high that is far more intense. However, this high also fades much faster.

“Users often take more crack than cocaine powder to maintain the high for longer. This makes it even more addictive and costly,” Xerri said.

Unlike powdered cocaine, which is often used in social settings like bars or parties, Xerri said that crack cocaine is usually consumed in a more private setting, often with a small group of people.

‘I became addicted immediately’ 

Someone who understands the drug well is Clifford Galea Vella who today is the Malta High Commissioner to Namibia and the president of the Northern Region.

“I did not drink. I did not take any drugs, but I went straight to crack cocaine,” Galea Vella said.

Galea Vella became hooked on the drug in 2013 when he was introduced to it by a man he was in love with. His addiction lasted two years, until he sought help from OASI and got clean. Although he relapsed during the pandemic, he has now been drug-free for two years.

He described the drug as being so addictive that only the third time he smoked it, he became completely hooked on it.

“Sometimes I would spend up to a thousand euros a night,” Galea Vella said.

The addiction was so detrimental that Galea Vella, at one point, accumulated a debt of over €360,000.

Clifford Galea Vella has been drug-free for two years. Photo: Facebook

“You devour it (tiekolhom). It’s a new form of poverty. One moment you have everything, the next you have nothing,” he said, adding that many people resort to theft and prostitution to fund this addiction.

The drug can erode both bones and teeth, he added. He said that many crack users turn to drugs like diazepam (Valium) or heroin to calm down.

Galea Vella’s road to recovery began with the support of those around him, as he started to miss the things that once filled his life.

“All those things that were present in my life I began to miss. I had a lot of people supporting me. I was lucky enough to have that background.

Many people don’t have that background. Who is going to help them?” he asked.

Today, Galea Vella runs a Facebook group called ‘Addiction Malta’ where he posts information about addictions.