Many people left to make their own stimulant pipes and face the risks

Across the globe, people who use stimulants have devised creative, sometimes ingenious, smoking tools. Often used to heat up and inhale crack cocaine or methamphetamine, these homemade implements are regularly made of whatever’s available—particularly in jurisdictions where access to new pipes and stems, such as through safer smoking kit programs, is banned.

These tools speak to the adaptability of the people making them. But though some homemade devices may be relatively safe, harm reductionists say the use of others can carry various added risks—such as inhaling plastic fumes or tiny shards of metal, mouth wounds and disease transmission.

This is particularly worrying considering the worldwide scarcity of pipe distribution programs and other harm reduction interventions that focus on people who smoke drugs. According to Harm Reduction International, only 16 countries offer safer smoking kits, compared to the 92 that host at least one syringe service program.