Crack cocaine abuse is on the rise in Northern Ireland after police analysts identified potential shifts in the underworld drugs trade.
In one health board alone more than 30 registered addicts admitted taking it.
However, cannabis is still the top product sold by paramilitary dealers. Although no seizures of crack have been made in Northern Ireland, a growing number of users disclosed taking it among other banned substances.
Gill Burns, head of addiction services at the Northern Board's Homefirst and Causeway Trust, has monitored its increase in her area.
She said: "In 2003 we had one person reporting a history of crack cocaine use. "Currently there are 32 clients reporting a use." Most of them are based in Ballymena, Co Antrim - an area long gripped by heroin abuse.
Despite a quarter of addicts registered with the town's Railway Street clinic saying they had also taken crack, Ms Burns stressed it was on a secondary basis. "We are not having people coming forward saying this is the only drug I'm using," she said.
"This is a small increase in use. It's still a very small number of people in a population of over 400,000 in the Northern Board area.
"These clients are probably mainly heroin users and at some time have used a bit of crack."
Her analysis follows attempts by health chiefs to establish the true level of traditional cocaine use in Northern Ireland.
A study commissioned by the Drug and Alcohol Information and Research Unit found 3,303 opiate and/or cocaine users.
PA