In late 1988 an outreach worker from Mersey Regional Health Authority's AIDS Prevention Unit reported that prostitutes in Liverpool were starting to use crack. A survey of 26 individuals about their crack use and its consequences revealed a clear disparity between the picture of crack use painted by the media and public officials and the picture provided by the findings of this study: (1) Rather than being a new phenomenon, cocaine had been smoked in Liverpool for over a decade, with crack use dating back to at least 1986. (2) In this polydrug using group, crack use spread rapidly but if crack was not available the users would switch back to heroin or other drugs. (3) Half the sample had been using crack occasionally for an average of eighteen months, with many periods of abstinence, which conflicts with the theory of inevitable instant addiction. (4) Less than half said they had crack-related problems and only a few mentioned violence or craving/withdrawals. One-third of the persons surveyed said crack use had reduced their use of heroin. Combined with other findings, this implies that money problems forced them to reduce the amount of heroin they bought or the rush from crack had reduced their need for the rush from injecting. The HIV implications of these changes suggest the effects of crack use on injecting behavior and sexual behavior should be a major focus of future research. Note