text: **Executive summary**
  
  This paper uses a range of datasets and methodologies to: 
  
   obtain working estimates for the number of individuals in England who started using 
  
  opiates/crack from 2005 to 2013;1 
  
   examine the characteristics of these individuals. 
  
  The main findings of the paper are as follows. 
  
   
  
  It is estimated that around 5,000 to 8,000 individuals started using opiates or crack- 
  cocaine in 2013. There is a high degree of uncertainty around this figure due to the 
  sparse data on this population, but sense-checks based on treatment and criminal justice 
  system data suggest the true figure is unlikely to be much larger than 10,000. 
  
   Data also suggest that the number of current opiate/crack initiates involved with crime 