Crack Pipe Culture Should Drive Policy

After conducting his master’s research on the social experiences of crack pipe sharing, University of Victoria PhD candidate Andrew Ivsins believes that by making pipes more available we could reduce the negative effects of pipe sharing.
        Ivsins, under the supervision of UVic sociology professor Dr. Cecilia Benoit and former UVic sociology professor Dr. Benedikt Fischer, learned about the social customs of crack pipe users in Victoria through in-depth interviews with 13 self-reported users who regularly share pipes. He discovered, among other reasons, that users share pipes mainly out of economic necessity and that often this leads to unfair treatment and/or violence toward those who need to borrow pipes.
        “I learned through my research that there are very strict rules that must be followed when it comes to pipe sharing. Users who don’t follow these rules often suffer physical abuse or they’re ostracized. If you borrow someone’s pipe, for example, you can only light it for a short period, or take one ‘hoot.’ You are not allowed to tip someone else’s pipe to smoke their resin and it is especially frowned upon if you push the screen through the pipe to collect resin.”
        In addition to his graduate studies, Ivsins is also a research assistant at UVic’s Centre for Addictions Research (CARBC). For Ivsins’ full thesis, visit https://dspace.library.uvic.ca:8443/dspace/handle/1828/3044

—30—