Summary of the NECTOS study of specialist crack services

Abstract

The Government acknowledges that crack and cocaine use is a significant public health issue. It has attached a high priority to getting more crack users into treatment and retaining them, and commissioning new research into the effectiveness of different treatment methods.

Tackling Crack: A National Plan (Home Office, 2002) was implemented in 2003. There has been no independent
assessment of existing crack and cocaine treatment services in this country to establish what interventions are delivered, how effective services are, and what lessons can be learned for future service planning. This evaluation aims to directly address this shortcoming.

The National Evaluation of Crack Cocaine Treatment and Outcome Study (NECTOS) (NTA, 2007, forthcoming) evaluated a number of well-established specialist crack treatment services. The intention was to describe the interventions they provided, to measure how effective the services were in engaging and retaining crack users, and to assess whether they helped users reduce their consumption.